Chapter 14: True Threat “Get up!” I urged, “This is where the true battle begins.” ‘Crap, this isn’t good…’ I looked down at Gratus and forced him to a stand. He seemed relieved, but he looked drained from the fight he had with Turbavi. I glanced back at the monster behind us, and took note of how the monster had splattered all over the floor. ‘This isn’t right. It’s not over yet.’ “I hope you’re not going to tell me that the monster over there is still capable of fighting,” said Gratus while trying to regain his breath. “No. That thing is dead,” I replied while looking around to see if I could spot anything else abnormal. “Then?” Gratus tilted his head in confusion. ‘Hehehe…’ A faint chuckle rung in my ears. “Think about it. You were fighting Turbavi’s soul, so how did that monster end up here with us after you shattered his domain?” Gratus turned to look at the monster and paused before asking, “Then where’s Turbavi?” I shrugged and picked up my sword from the ground as I readied myself for the unexpected. ‘Traitors should die.’ ‘No!’ I shouted within my head, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Something from within my mind stirred, and my body moved with it. I didn’t know why, but I was lifting my sword above Gratus’ head while his eyes were fixed on the scattered remains of the monster on the floor. ‘Hahaha! Kill! Kill! Kill!’ I tried to warn Gratus, but my throat tensed and prevented me from speaking. Mid-choke, I managed to cough out a few words, “G-Gratus… Tur-Turbavi is…” “Where? Where’s Turbavi?” Gratus turned to see where I was looking but was taken aback when he saw me looking at him with my sword over his head, “Huh? Wh-what are you doing, Sophie?” ‘What a fool! Hahaha! Blind as usual.’ ‘Wait. Stop! Get out of my head!’ Ignoring my pleas, the voice within me commanded, ‘Slice his head off!’ I struggled to control my body, but it was no use. I even tried to release the grip I had over my sword so that it would drop before I could slash down on Gratus, but it was to no avail. My body went in for the kill. “Get away from me!” I screamed. “Salvus!” The instant I chopped my sword down, a bright barrier formed from left to right that swiped the hilt of my sword and changed the trajectory of my swing. At the same time the barrier formed, Gratus rolled towards the opposite side. ‘Damn firefly!’ ‘Thank goodness!’ “What’s happening? Sophie! Speak to me.” ‘He’s doing something!’ “He’s inside of me! My… memories…!” My vision… My consciousness was fading. I clutched onto my head trying to keep it in place. Everything was spinning. ‘That’s right, my dear. It’s time to end this game of charades.’ “Abscond…” ‘Oh, ho? My dear, did you think you were getting closer to escaping? You’re like a fish trapped in a pond. You can swim all you want, but you’ll never escape from me.’ My mind was being taken over, but the most disturbing feeling that I had was that this didn’t feel like the first time this had happened. “Sophie! Where are you?” Gratus’ voice anchored my mind in reality, but my reality was shifting away from Gratus to darkness and a terrible laughter. ‘Foolish light can’t see. Kekeke. Now’s your chance to kill him, my dear.’ “Get out of my head!” I shouted using the last of my strength and hopefully revealing my position to Gratus before my mind was hi-jacked. ‘How cute. My dear Sophie is trying to defy me. Shall I give you a hand? Or will you lend me your body?’ ‘It’s useless… There’s nothing I can do but watch now… Sorry Gratus. You’re on your own.’ ‘That’s right!’ There was nothing I could do except for the watch the inevitable as it happened through my own eyes. It was a surreal feeling to see but not be able to do anything. It was like I was looking through someone else’s body. ‘Heh heh heh, first decapitate and then cut him to pieces one by one until the fool regrets betraying us.’ ‘Betraying us?’ By now, I had snuck besides him and was ready to swipe at him one more time. ‘That’s right. He betrayed us. All you need to do is chop off his legs with your sword, and you’ll be one step closer to keeping Amber safe from his light. Ke-ke-ke…’ ‘Amber?’ My body hesitated. ‘Yes, don’t you remember? Gratus is the one who trapped you both in the abyss.’ Images flooded into my head. ‘That’s right. Gratus is the cause of the instability. He is the one who trapped us!’ My body stopped hesitating, and I went straight for his feet, but before I had the pleasure of seeing the traitor cut down a size, he jumped! “Annoying firefly!” While that monkey was suspended in the air, I redirected my swing upwards to catch him in the air, but before I could get a clear swing, Gratus burst with light, and I was blinded. ‘Ugh! I hate this light!’ “Adustum!” When my vision cleared, another bright light shot towards me, but it didn’t do anything. My armor was special. Instead of penetrating me like it should have, my armor absorbed the light and diluted it with darkness. I laughed at the fool and pointed my sword at him, “Is that it?! You’re so weak! What? Can’t remember how to fight? I don’t even needs the others anymore.” “Wh-Who are you? What’d you do to Sophie?” That traitor was taken aback. I could see it on his face. ‘The joy!’ “Oh? How much did you forget this time?” I laughed, “Maybe you need another lesson after resurrecting?” “Salvus!” A bright light exploded behind me and extended our shadows in front of us. I knew what was coming so I ducked to see a barrier form above me from behind. “Nuisance!” Since the barrier prevented me from standing up, I readied myself to slice Gratus while crouching, but he used the time I dodged the barrier to roll away. “What do you mean by this time?!” demanded traitor number two. ‘Great, now the nuisance has opened her mouth.’ I laughed while shattering the barrier above me so I could stand and waited for the fool to stand as well, “Since you’re asking, I guess someone messed with your memories as well? Hahahahaha!” “Gratus! He’s the one! He’s Kyrie! I remember!” I frowned, “Me? Are you talking about me? Huh, slave?! What makes you say that?” Chuckling, I continued with a menacing smile, “I guess I didn’t tamper with your memories enough.” “What’d you do to us?!” “Oh, Gratus, how many times do I have to explain this?” I asked while sticking Sophie’s sword into the ground and leaning on it. “Ho—” “A rhetorical question,” I said while cutting him off. I already knew what he was going to ask since he always managed to ask it the same damn thing every time I met him, though I liked messing with his mind anyway. “Let me ask you a question instead. How does one go about destroying an eternal?” “An eternal?” “Oh, that’s new,” I mused, “I don’t remember messing with your mind to that extent, maybe…” I waited for Gratus to respond, but he didn’t give me the pleasure of a good reaction. “Oh, come on! Such a bore,” I complained before continuing, “You’re an eternal. No matter how many friggin’ times you die, you always come back in top form. You know how jealous that makes me feel?! All I can do is manipulate a few memories here and there and make people forget or remember things, but shit…” I snickered, “I guess that has its uses as well.” “Why are you telling me all this?” “Well, it’s not like you’ll remember any time soon. Plus, after I turn you into a retard, I wanted to try a new experiment that worked pretty well with Amber.” “Amber?” “Oh, just another low-life eternal that tried to betray us as well. You don’t need to worry about her anymore.” I chuckled, but that fool didn’t think it was funny. What can I say? He’s one of my toughest patrons to please. --- ‘This isn’t good.’ I thought to myself, ‘Something is controlling Sophie’s body and my light isn’t a good match against her.’ “Isn’t it about time to end this?” Sophie said while chuckling and readying herself to thrust her sword at me, “I look forward to glimpsing the great mind of Gratus once again, if you would allow… or not.” ‘Think. What can I do? A simple Adustum would never penetrate Sophie’s armor, let alone affect the monster controlling her. It’s like she’s… corrupted?’ I only blinked, but in that time, Cura yelled something I could not understand. Her voice seemed far, but I could tell she was shouting. Though I didn’t understand the need to when we could speak with our thoughts. Something was happening in front of me, but my mind was slow in registering everything. A barrier had appeared in front of me, but it had already shattered and shards were flying towards me, suggesting something had burst through. I looked to see where Sophie was standing, but she wasn’t there. She was standing right in front of me with a malicious grin. It was odd. Now that we were standing so close, I could easily see her face that was once hidden in darkness. Even though she was grinning, her eyes seemed lost. ‘Just like a lost soul’ I thought. I looked down and saw that her sword had pierced into my abdomen. … My mind was still trying to catch up. Even the pain sensors in my body had yet to react. ‘Gratus!’ Cura’s voice cut through my mind, and time resumed as normal. I screamed in pain from the sword and my hands shot out to prevent Sophie from thrusting her sword even further through me. “I hope you don’t think this is the end, Gratus,” said Sophie while lifting her left arm to grip the side of my head, “It’s time for your operation.” “No,” I replied, moving forward and letting Sophie’s sword thrust further into me, “It’s time for your operation.” I clasped onto Sophie’s head with both of my hands and shot the remaining energy I had in me into her mind before blacking out. --- ‘Invasus!’ … ‘Huh? Shit! What?!’ ‘Hu-hu-hu… Who’s like a fish trapped in a pond now?’ ‘Invasus!’ ‘Hm~ So is that how you invaded my consciousness? Pretty desperate don’t you think? Trying to take advantage of a girl, especially one like me.’ ‘What did you do?’ *Rumble* ‘My name is Sophie Lattierre, the dark knight who treads through darkness. I welcome you to my domain. Just as darkness swallows light, I swallow darkness. Escape is futile.’ *Rumble* ‘Hey, come on. We’re on the same side, remember? Gratus is our enemy.’ I chuckled, ‘No, you idiot. We’re not on the same side.’ ‘What are you saying?! We… You—!’ ‘Oops, no time to chat. Heh heh heh… It’s too late now…’ The darkness cracked. There was no visible sign of the cracks, but the sound was clear. *Shatter* Light burst from the cracks, making them visible, and an angel descended into my domain. ‘Firefly.’ The angel shook her head and replied, ‘Cura Rexi, if you would please.’ I chuckled and asked, ‘What do you want? My domain does not welcome light.’ ‘And for what you did to my master, I do not welcome your kind either. I’m here to rid you of your… uninvited guest.’ ‘You mean my captive?’ ‘…’ ‘Okay, got it. Consider it repayment for almost killing Gratus.’ ‘… Thank you.’ In a flash, that damn pesky firefly disappeared and darkness once again filled my consciousness. ‘What are you going to do with me?’ ‘What do you think? Damn, I think she’s more annoying than you. I feel a bit sorry for you, but oh well, not all things end well, I guess. See ya!’ --- ‘Shit, where am I?’ ‘Hello, Kyrie.’ I turned to see that damn traitor’s personal slave behind me. ‘Oh, meeting with me personally?’ I smiled and bowed, ‘And to what do I own this pleasure?’ ‘It’s time to say goodbye.’ I laughed at her gesture, ‘And how do are you going to do that? I’m an eternal as well.’ ‘I remember as much… But now that I’ve entered into your domain, you’ll do well as a sacrifice for my master.’ ‘You wouldn’t!’ I shouted while dashing towards her and pinning her down. For the second time today, I felt scared. The first when I found out how long Sophie had been playing me. ‘You’re all messed up!’ Cura smiled and streaks of light shot out of her body in all directions, the ones hitting me shooting through me like a laser. ‘What good is a sword if it fears being sacrificed?’ I shook my head and tried to convince her to stop, ‘You got it all wrong! I’m not your real enemy! Kyrie is still—’ but that was the end. She exploded into a mass of white light and my whole domain collapsed. --- When I had regained my senses, I awoke to darkness, and in front of me, sat Sophie. She just stared at me with her dark silver eyes. Once again, her face was masked in darkness. She seemed relieved somehow, maybe it was because of the darkness. ‘I guess darkness can be good once in a while, eh?’ … ‘Cura?’ “She’s gone.” “Cura?” I asked, a little taken aback at Sophie’s sudden declaration. Sophie nodded. “What happened?” I asked. Sophie didn’t say anything. She just pointed at me. “What? What are you point at?” I looked down at my body and realized I was not hurt. Lifting my shirt, I didn’t even see a scar where Sophie’s sword had penetrated into me. “N-no! What happened?” I demanded. Sophie didn’t seem to mind my distress. She simply shrugged and said, “Not sure. She paid me a visit and then took Turbavi away.” “Turbavi? What happened to Kyrie?” ‘Cura! Where are you?’ “Hm… I don’t know who you are referring to… Turbavi has—” *Rumble* ‘Gratus.’ ‘Cura! Is that you?’ ‘Soon, this realm will collapse. I was wrong. Kyrie was not the one who erased your memories. It was Turbavi… But I feel like Kyrie was using him somehow.’ ‘Forget them! Are you going to be all right?’ ‘Don’t worry about me. I used Sacrificum to heal your wounds, but since I didn’t have a body to sacrifice, I sacrificed Turbavi. Now, he will wander the endless abyss forever…’ ‘What about you?’ ‘I… am not an eternal. I will perish… until the next time… though I will not remember…’ *Rumble* ‘Wait! Cura! What do you mean by next time?’ ‘I’m glad… I… could talk… to you… again…’ --- “Gratus. Gratus!” Sophie was shaking me. I tried to open my eyes, but the bright light that threatened to enter into my eyes made me close my eyes again. ‘What’s wrong with my eyes? This much light should be nothing…’ I strained to keep my eyes open until my eyes adjusted. Little by little, I was able to see again. … We were back in Procella. Light filled the air around us and I could see healthy grown trees towering above us. I could also feel the lush green grass I was laying on, but what captured my eyes the most were the countless lost souls flying out of the once cursed forest and into paradise. It was beautiful. And I cried.