Chapter 37: Dark Tidings

The next morning I managed to extract myself from the bed without waking Charlotte up. The room was only half the size now, I lent Ivan and Volva my room for the night. The best thing about the rooms was that they seemed to be sentient to a degree. The room once had a temper tantrum when I got a bit too angry and started breaking things. The wall had shot out when I started punching the wall and knocked me on my back. So this time when Ivan walked in the room immediately changed to suit the pair.

The room looked exactly like Ivan’s room with the only thing different being the lack of the crate of contraceptive potions in the corner of the room. Considering they were doing it almost every night I guess they burned through them quite quickly...

With me being the first up I decided to get dressed and check on the Alv. Walking into the room of my own accord seemed a little rude but honestly at this point there wasn’t much left to hide with her. I’ve already seen her spray her juices all over the bed so… yeah I might as well go in and check on her.

I told Alfie to stay with her just in case so I guess I could at least check in with her. I did tell her to dress her when she calms down. Charlotte lent her one of her night gowns so she wouldn’t be naked if I do go in.

With that thought in mind I walked over to the door and opened the door. When I poked my head in I saw the Alv girl sitting up in the bed with Alfie supporting her back.

“Are you ok?” I asked as I entered the room.

The girl’s face went scarlet as she pulled the sheets of the bed up to cover her body.

“You know I think most pretenses of modesty are out the window at the moment. Besides I think we have more pressing matters at hand.” I say as I walk over to the bed.

This made her look up and she bit her lip still red in the face.

“A Rift has appeared at Alvuan home of the Alvs. I request the aid of the Heroes to help seal it.” the girl said, her voice was now prim and proper in a similar style as Charlotte and Ophelia. Although it was a little shaky, that was understandable given last night's events.

“Request accepted, now I guess introductions are in order. I’ve met you before but I never got your name.” I said as I took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“I am Ithdriella of house Lavella, I am crown princess of the Alvian kingdom.” the Alv girl said.

“Ifdrial?” I say as I try to repeat the very long name. I’m pretty sure it got it wrong though…

“Eef-dri-el-la.” she corrected.

“You got a nickname? I rather we not spend a week mispronouncing your name until we finally get it right.” I reply as I raise an eyebrow.

“My close friends call me Ella.” she said hesitantly.

I know it’s probably a little rude to call a princess by a nickname but I really rather learn how to pronounce Evie-dry-ella or whatever it is in a normal conversation…

“Ok can we just call you Ella, most of the heroes, myself included aren’t good with names that have more than three syllables.” I say and she gives me a small nod.

“Alright, should we go out into the common room? The rest will wake up soon and I don’t think this is a very good place to talk.” I say as I stand up.

Ella nods as she turns and tries to get out of bed. As she turns I notices she winces as she tries to move her legs. When she tries to stand her legs give way and Alfie barely catches her before she falls.

“You alright?” I ask as I reach forward and steady her.

“Just a little sore…” Ella replied softly as her face went scarlet.

“Yeah we err… tore something down there when you were under the influence of that potion.” I say as we begin to help her out of the room.

She’s dressed in one of Charlotte’s night clothes. It wasn’t the best fit but Charlotte’s small figure meant that it fitted about as well as could be expected on her willowy figure. Her hair was a light shade of gold as compared to Charlotte’s, if Charlotte had hair that looked like gold, she had hair that looked like sunlight.

Ella was taller than Charlotte, about as tall as Alfie and Volva, which put her to being just slightly shorter than me. This also meant that the clothes she was wearing were a little short and it revealed quite a bit of her thighs. Her limbs were unusually thin and her body from what I remember was not very curvy, her breasts were pretty small as well if I recall… well at least compared to what Volva and Alfie had… then again Alfie and Volva had chests that were on the larger side… biggest I’ve seen so far... The only person I think that has a larger chest would be Filianoreh...

Ok I need to stop thinking about this...

As I shifted my mind away from that line of thought, my mind shifted back to her spindly limbs. It might be because the Alv’s just had a slightly different figure as compared to humans. I mean if you showed me someone with limbs as thin as hers I would think the person is malnourished.

Well I’ll know what the other Alvs look like when I reach Alvuan.

“It’s fine if you tore my purity. I was expecting worse when I came here, so this is good news if anything.” Ella said with a small sigh as I sat her down on the couch.

“Well you can tell us the full story when everyone else wakes up. Do you want anything to eat?” I ask as I look over to our breakfast that has already been placed on the usual table next to the door.

“Yes please, I haven’t eaten in two days. Plants only please.” Ella said.

“Plants? You’re vegetarian?” I ask.

“If you mean I only eat vegetables, I can eat fruits as well.” Ella replied.

“So no meat?” I ask as she shook her head in response.

“What about milk and cheese?” I asked again and again she shook her head.

So with that I got her bowl of oats and some fruits. When I sat down with our breakfast, she took it and began to eat it slowly. Her movements were refined but I noticed she wasn’t using the spoon for the oats, she was just scooping it into her mouth with her hands. It was a strange sight to be sure, I never thought you could eat elegantly with your hands…

It wasn’t long before the rest were up, I noticed the others were really awkward as they shuffled around the room and grabbed their breakfast. The awkward silence permeated the room and I saw Ella taking furtive looks around at the rest.

“So did everyone have a good rest last night?” I asked as I looked around the room. The rest all nodded silently at my question.

“Anyway this is Ella, her actual name is a lot longer, I’m sure she’ll tell you at some point what her full name is but in the interests of time we’ll just call her Ella for now.” I saw as I looked around the room.

I could feel the awkwardness start to ebb as the rest listened. At least they were easily focused, when serious affairs pop up they all tense up immediately.

“It looks like my dreams were correct, the next rift is at Alvuan. Now then Ella could you give us an update on what’s happened over there?” I say as I look at her.

“The rift appeared about a week ago. My people were able to hold the demons at bay when I left but that was four days ago.” Ella said softly.

“How did you get here so quickly?” Charlotte asked.

“I went by sea to the city you called Marineburg. I allowed myself to be captured, I made my captors believe I was fleeing political instability in Alvuan. I had some…” Ella said as her voice cracked and she went silent. I saw her eyes well up with tears as she tried her best to blink them away.

“I came with some of my guards, they volunteered to escort me to Marineburg. They helped convince my captors that I was a princess fleeing a successful rebellion.” Ella said

“What happened to them? Your guards, are they locked up somewhere?” Jacob asked.

“No… they were tortured, we agreed beforehand that they would initially refuse to answer any questioning and only reveal the lie when they were interrogated. They are dead, they held their oath to their dying breaths…” Ella replied softly as she shut her eyes as if to block out the memory.

“My captors, they were the common guards, brutes beyond compare. They wanted to violate me at first but my guards pretended to let slip that I was a princess. My guards revealed under torture that I was crown princess of Alvuan. My captors all stayed their hands once they found out who I was…” Ella said as the sorrow in her eyes slowly turned to anger and hate.

“You humans always believe what you want to believe. You cannot imagine sacrificing oneself for something greater than yourselves, so caught up all of you are in your fleeting lives. ” Ella said as she looked at me, her gaze looking like broken glass.

Grief can very easily turn to hate, this I know all too well. If Regus writes books about how barbaric the Alvs are I can only imagine what the Alvs write about humans. Afterall I can smell the distinct scent of prejudice in her words. I look around and I saw the rest were stunned at her cold words. I turned back to Ella and held her gaze for a moment and I saw her eyes waver as she looked away.

“You’ve never had to deal with death have you?” I ask dryly and I watch as Ella flinched from my reply.

“I do not know what your people think of the humans that live here but I can tell you we can be very different across the different worlds. My friends here all come from worlds of peace where hate and cruelty is hard to come by. Their people are not the monsters you see here.” I say as I gesture to the other heroes.

“And yours? What are your people like?” Ella asked.

“What do you know about the past dark heroes? What were their worlds like?” I reply with a question of my own, speaking as if I already know the answer. If I’m going to go down this line of conversation I might as well see if I can pry some information out of her…

“The Plagued Healer, is what we call the previous Dark Hero, legends say he came from a world of pestilence and despair. Where mothers whip themselves raw as they cry out to the heavens. They cry for an answer to why the cart outside their door is filled with the corpses of her children.

A world where the plague riddles corpses fill every cemetery, every mass grave, where the corpses were dumped onto ships which were set ablaze out at sea.

A world of pain, despair and madness…” Ella replied softly.

“And the one before him?” I ask.

“The Thorned Rose, we know less of her as she lived more than a millenia ago. She was born in a dying empire, where splendour and glory has turned to squalor and corruption. In her world war and deceit ruled, men died in the halls of power as frequently as the soldiers died on the battlefield…” Ella replied.

“Then what do you think my world is like?” I ask as I take in the information. It looks my suspicions were right the Dark God takes only people who were born in the darkest chapters of history…

“I don’t know, I suspect your world isn’t kind.” Ella replied softly as she lowered her head to avoid my gaze.

“Well it isn’t kind, if you’re upset about losing those you care about that’s perfectly normal. Believe me I know what it's like to lose people and it’s ok to be angry.” I say evenly as I watch some of the tension ebb from Ella’s body.

“If you had to choose a mailed fist or a velvet glove when you go to face the demons, which would you prefer?” I ask.

I see Ella look up at me and her eyes hardened slightly.

Good almost there… I just need to harden her resolve a little more…

“From loss comes grief and fear. Turn your grief to hate to face the enemy and let your fear make you bold.There is no courage without fear, no victory without sacrifice. That is the way of the world. If you want something as great as saving your civilization, you will need to give up a few things along the way.” I say as I stare her down.

“So what are you willing to give up to save your people?” I ask as I raise an eyebrow.

“Everything, my duty to my people is my purpose. I am crown princess of Alvuan, my duty is to protect and serve all who live in our sacred forest. Only death may relieve me of my sacred trust…” Ella said softly, although this time she had a clear edge in her voice.

“Good, but remember duty comes easy when it costs you nothing. It is a whole different matter when you have to choose between your duty and what you cherish.” I say with a sigh.

“Have you ever given up something you cherished?” Ella asked.

“Far too many times.” I reply as I try not to think of those I lost not long ago.

“Does it get any better? The regrets, the pain…” Ella asked.

“No, the scars don’t fade, you just get stronger, you just learn how to live with it. As for regret, the thing is, it’s not about doing everything perfectly so you don’t have any regrets. Many people think if you live forever, you can resolve all your regrets. But in truth the trick is not to live forever, the trick is learn to live with yourself.” I say with a nod.

“I see… then perhaps it is good that the Dark God sent one such as you. What bargain did he strike with you? Why did you agree to come here?” Ella asked.

I paused at that question in surprise, it seems this girl knew quite a bit about the dark heros. Thus far the only people know about the bargain thing are the mages and Filianoreh. The mages knowing about this isn’t that surprising, considering they were probably the largest repository of knowledge in this world. Filianoreh also seemed to have a close relationship with the mages so she must have been informed of this fact.

“How do you know I came here because of a bargain?” I ask as I raise an eyebrow.

“The last Dark Hero lived out his last years in Alvuan. He told us many things, one of them was that the Dark Heroes do not come willingly. They come here seeking something, but they do not always collect their reward at the end of their long road.” Ella replied.

Well that is interesting… so I guess I’m not the only Dark Hero who ends up having second thoughts about going back to my original world.

“I was offered power to destroy my enemies.” I said.

“Then not so different from the past Dark Heroes, they all sought power to achieve a goal from their own worlds. Of course all of this information is from one Dark Hero and the Dark Heroes are known to be schemers and liars. The Dark Heroes are never above deception, they do not have the code of honour that binds the other heroes. They know that an unseen blade is the deadliest.” Ella said.

“Honour is a luxury, stand on the ashes of a million dead souls and ask them what honour means. The silence is your answer.” I reply.

“I suppose that is a truth that all Dark Heroes learn… When the last Dark Hero was on his deathbed, we the Alv's asked if he wished for us to record any last words. He replied with a strange set of verses…” Ella said as she furrowed her brow in thought.

“Verses?” Charlotte asked.

“Yes it goes…” Ella began.

Sing gods, of the rage of Achilles

Murderous, cruel and damned

Achilles who cost his foes countless losses

Achilles who hurled to the house of death so many sturdy souls

Achilles who fed their bodies as carrion

For the hounds

For the crows

For the worms

Ella finished as she did so I sensed Charlotte fidget slightly on my right.

“The Iliad, that’s the opening lines…” Charlotte said.

“The lily what?” Jacob asked.

“It’s a greek epic written about the Trojan war. It…” Charlotte then paused for a moment as her eyes widened, as if she was suddenly struck with some kind of revelation.

“What?” I asked as I furrowed my brows.

“It’s a story about the Trojan war, the war was supposedly started by divine intervention… and Achilles was a champion of the gods…” Charlotte replied softly.

“Wasn’t Achilles invincible or something? Like the whole Achilles heel thing, wasn’t that the only place that he could be hurt? He got killed by an arrow to his heel right?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, he’s only vulnerable because his mother held him by his ankles and dipped him into…” Charlotte said as she paused again.

“He was dipped into this river in the underworld right?” Jacob said.

“Yes… the river Styx…” Charlotte said as she turned to face me.

If I remember correctly Achilles was always a great warrior but he was consumed by rage because he lost his friends…

Is it just me or does the first part of his story sound familiar…

I was a good soldier from the start and as I slowly lost my platoon mates one by one… I started to want revenge…

Rage, that was what I felt when I was in Sapporo. I was murderous, I was cruel… but am I damned?

Then I saw Styx materialise in front of me his ever present glowing red smile shining onto my face.

Sing dark champion of your curse

Murder, Cruelty, Damnation

Let anger be your song vengeful one

Let your enemies taste loss on bitter loss

Let the will of the dark guide you

Silence the frail

Harvest the worthy

Discard the chaff

“What the hell does that mean?” I ask as I narrow my eyes.

Every epic needs a tale

And yours is just beginning

With those words and a laugh, he vanished and I heard a knock on the door. Ella flinched at the sound and looked at the door fearfully. I saw Charlotte stand up, tensed as she gazed at the door. I knew she was thinking the same thing I was, did the king want to take Ella back?

“Come on Jacob.” I say as I stand up as we both begin walking over to the door.

I opened the door fully expecting a confrontation and I was surprised to see Davis standing there. I was expecting some royal guards to come for Ella, why would the king send Davis when we had such a good relationship with him? Does he want to sow discord?

“Good morning Onaga Katsuro, I have heard that an Alv has arrived in your custody. I have also heard rumors she brings tidings of a rift in Alvuan.” Davis said calmly.

“Yes, she did tell us there is a rift at Alvuan, we intend to journey there and seal it. Will that be a problem?” I ask cordially, there should be some tension if Davis was sent here to capture her. Yet I feel nothing from him, he was calm as if he was just confirming a weather report.

“Not at all Onaga Katsuro, an emergency meeting has been convened amongst the knight orders and magus council. We would like to request the attendance of the heroes to discuss a plan of action going forward.” Davis replied.

“You intend to help us?” I ask, this was a surprising development.

I thought the king would forbid any of his own military to leave for Alvuan. Afterall why would you send your own soldiers to help defend an enemy nation?

“We do, we wish to discuss the details on how to proceed.” Davis replied.

“Alright… I’ll inform the others. By the way, how did you know that the Alv would tell us about the rift?” I ask.

The magus council knew there was going to be a rift at Alvuan. Did they tell the knight orders as well? So much of what is going on behind the scenes is hidden. Who knows what? Who is talking to who? Are the knight orders truly aligned with the magus council? Or are they merely in an alliance of convenience?

“Princess Filianoreh informed us. She told us nothing is confirmed and requested I reconfirm the situation before inviting you to the meeting. She did not wish to waste your time.” Davis replied.

“Ah I see, alright let me inform the rest.” I say with a false smile.

Hmm so Filianoreh is pulling the strings this time, I was hoping to get some information on the nature of the alliances between these two major centres of power. From what I can tell the true power in Regus lies with the knight orders, the magus council, and the guardsmen army. The church of the seven is toothless, they may control the people but with the level system in this world the people do not have that much power.

There are few amongst the average population that are truly willing to die for a cause. Force always speaks louder than words. If you control the military you control the nation, I know the rest of my party may not agree, but they haven’t seen what martial law looks like…

Before I got sent off, there were a lot of protests in Tokyo for the government to sue for peace. Some even asked the government to surrender. It was around the time the army started recruiting those under 18 years of age. So the government enacted martial law, they then put the depleted units in Tokyo to enforce it. The units who had large portions of their soldiers wiped out by the war, the units that had hatred for the Russians. The units who would rather die than surrender.

As for the units that were made of the sons and daughters of the people? They were sent to the frontlines, far from home, where their only options were to fight or desert. Few deserted, afterall we were kids, we did not know how to get back home even if we left. The army had checkpoints scattered all across the countryside to catch deserters. Deserters were executed when caught and the news of these executions were updated on bulletin boards across all the military camps. So that the soldiers knew what would happen if they tried to run…

Well hopefully it won’t come to that in this world, if the whole nation started revolting in the middle of the world ending rifts, I know what governments like Regus will do. There are going to be a lot of bodies to bury when it’s all over…

With that troubling thought I turned and looked at the expectant faces of my party. Looks like we are off to war again…

Well let’s see what Filianoreh has in store for us shall we?