Lianne groaned, holding her head as it pulsed in pain. Vision blurry, she rolled over, trying to remember where she was. Everything hurt, her head, her back, her arms, but she got up anyway. Everything came back in a blur and she hissed through her teeth, realizing that everyone else was gone. Her sword laid in the dirt a few meters from where she was thrown to and her knife was still in her hand. Picking the blade up, she grimaced as the pain continued to pulse in her head. She reached a hand up to her eye, muttering as it seemed to send needles into her skull. Somehow, it was worse than before, worse than she had ever felt. Maybe that was a lie, but it sure as hell felt like it.

Slowly stumbling into the moonlight, she followed where the agony pointed her, hoping to end it as soon as possible. Travelling through the forest, she grumbled to herself, wanting to just be done already. She had already failed so many times and she was tired of it, so tired of it all. Even so, she had to keep pushing, keep chasing, keep on going, keep on getting back up, keep on being beaten back down. Nothing more, nothing less. She put a hand to her side, feeling her ribs ache. The pain was a constant, slowly becoming unnoticeable. She stumbled along the pathway while gripping the handle of her sword tightly, making sure her fingers were working properly.

Too tired to run, she continued walking forward, moving toward the ever increasingly excruciating pain. Her surroundings didn’t register as she brushed a hand over stone bricks while slowly zoning out. The pulse in her eye crawled through her veins, pulling everything away. It needed to stop, she needed to make it stop. She had to be close unless they had stopped limiting their ether. In that case, maybe she would just come into face with the monster she saw murder her mother instead. Lianne grit her teeth; if there was going to be a fight, she was looking forward to it.

Slowing her pace, she tried to quiet her breathing as footsteps became audible. She crouched low while slinking along a broken stone wall, staying out of sight. The steps were coming closer and the sensation of ether emanated everywhere, making her want to vomit from the sheer amount. She kept an eye on the pathway, waiting for her moment. As she waited, Merrick came into view with a limp body in his arms. Waiting for him to move a bit more, Lianne dove out of cover and slammed the pommel of her sword into the back of his head. He grunted and buckled to his knees, dropping the body to the ground and fumbling for his sword. With another strike, she smashed his temple into the dirt. A small smile came onto her face as she realized the amount of things she could do.

A hand reached for her shoulder from behind as she looked at Merrick’s unconscious body. Quickly whipping around, she swung her sword. The metal reverberated as it clashed against dark crystals, stopping in its tracks. Lianne stared at the blazing red eyes in front of her, and moving on reaction, she twirled the sword around for a slice. It cleanly cut through their throat and they stumbled back, gripping onto the fountain of blood. She stepped away, turning to the body on the floor, ready to get rid of the primary threat. As she scanned the unconscious body, her eyes drifted over to a familiar face, their eyes closed and their long silver hair splayed on the dirt.

She kicked Merrick away and crouched down, grabbing onto the body and facing her upward. Taking a moment to process what was going on, a cough sounded from behind. She turned around to see the woman whose throat she had just cut open spitting blood to the ground and taking a choking breath. They took a crystalline hand away from their now fully healed neck and looked over to Lianne. “W-why? Who are you?”

Lianne stood up straight realizing that the pain in her head was directed at the girl in front of her. She had seen her before, with the soldiers that Sirius was running from, but she sure as hell didn’t have red eyes and a black crystal arm back then. They stood up straight as Lianne stared down to the body below her. “... You fucking bitch.” She turned her sword to the girl and growled through her teeth. “What the hell happened?”

“I-I don’t know, I- she- please, we don’t need to fight, can-”

“Shut up and tell me.”

They raised her hands up, calming herself with a deep breath and speaking slowly. “I don’t know what she’s done to you, but I don’t want her to get hurt.” Quickly glancing away and then back, they looked up to Lianne once again. “... It’s the eye, right?”

“You’re not giving me any answers. You have her ether.”

“I… how does this connection work?”

“It works by you sending a fucking spike into my head each time I get close to you, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to kill you all now.”

“W-wait!” She backed away, still holding her hands up. “Please don’t hurt her, I don’t even know if she’ll wake up, isn’t that enough?”

Lianne kept moving forward as the girl shook her head. “Just take me instead, I… I’m her daughter.”

“... What?”

“Y-yes, so please, stop.”

Lianne stared at the girl in front of her and almost laughed; like mother like daughter. After holding her sword out for a bit, she grimaced. The girl hadn’t done anything to her, she was just a bystander who had gotten mixed in. She slowly walked back to the body, her hand tight around her sword.

“Wait-”

“No.” She raised her blade, prepared to stab down. A sudden gust of wind hit her as the girl dashed forward. Eyes widening, Lianne watched her move at inhuman speed, her crystalline arm reaching and grabbing onto the blade. Lianne grunted and tried to yank it away but was unable to do anything.

“What has she done? How does she deserve this? I don’t understand-”

Lianne quickly drew her knife while letting go of the sword and grabbing onto the girl’s shoulder. With a quick shove, she buried the knife into her chest. The girl cried out in pain, lurching over and holding onto the wound. A whimper came from her as she weakly held onto Lianne, crumpling into herself. A pang of guilt went through Lianne as she ripped the knife away, knowing she would have to act before the girl regenerated again. Turning back to the body, she raised her knife, preparing another stab. As she was about to plunge the blade down, she hesitated, staring at the silver hair and bloodied clothing. A quiet voice came from behind as the girl whispered. “Please, don’t.”

The body didn’t emanate anything, not even a hint of the ether from before. It was empty, hollow, almost dead. Yet, she looked the exact same, calm and peaceful. Lianne stared down, realizing Avaria had always looked like that. Like she was sleeping. Shaking her head, she tried to make her trembling hand move. A cry clawed out of her throat as she fell to her knees while attempting to recall the anger she should’ve been feeling, but only felt exhaustion. She grabbed onto the sides of her head, still gripping the knife. “Why? Fucking why?”

The question echoed in her head; it should’ve been the end, it should’ve been her respite, but instead she was there on the floor, crying and trembling like a fucking child. The girl moved to her side, kneeling down and slowly reaching a hand out. Her fingers touched Lianne’s temple and the pain started to fade. She looked up, still gripping onto the knife, trying to speak but unsure of what to say. The girl sadly nodded and met her eyes. “You’re hurt, I can see that, but… thank you for not…”

Lianne shook her head and pulled away. “Stay away.”

“... I just want to help, in any way I can.”

“Why? What are you, a replacement for her?”

Her shock was evident, but she quickly shook her head and looked down. “N-no, I just wanted to.” She stayed on her knees while putting a hand to her chest while quietly stuttering. “I-I’m Felicia.”

Lianne stared at her and shook her head. “Why didn’t you just kill me?”

“Because I didn’t want to.”

She processed the words and then chuckled to herself, hysterical. “Because you didn’t fucking want to? I stabbed you in the chest and you didn’t want to? How fucking insane is your entire family?”

Felicia watched her with a mixture of surprise and confusion as Lianne laughed again. “What’s it going to take for you people to just kill me already? How many tries is it going to take?”

“... I’m sorry-”

“Don’t fucking tell me you’re sorry, I’ve heard that so many damn times, I don’t care how sorry you are, I don’t care how much you want to repent, I just… just…” She clutched the sides of her head and felt her mind going blank as she whispered. “Why can’t it just stop?”

Felicia didn’t speak and just lowered her head. A groan came from beside them as Merrick stirred, rolling over while rubbing his head. He blinked and glanced over to Lianne and Felicia, his eyes slowly focusing. Lianne stumbled to her feet, picking up her sword. Merrick stood upright as well, staring at her. As Lianne started to move, a hand blocked her way. Felicia moved in front of her and shook her head. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Shut up-”

“You’re hurt and tired, you don’t need to fight.”

“I’ll stab you again.”

“And what will that accomplish?”

Lianne looked over to her and gripped onto her sword tightly. “... Shut up.”

“I don’t need to know everything that’s going on to realize this isn’t what you need.”

Before she could respond, Merrick’s voice interrupted. “She’s right, you know.”

Lianne turned to him while gripping her sword, trying to move forward. Felicia stayed firm in front while looking from her to Merrick as he continued. “This is your choice Lianne.”

She tried to rush at him but was stopped by Felicia’s crystal arm. Lianne tore herself away, growling under her breath. “Stay out of this.”

Merrick walked forward and nodded. “Felicia, stand back.”

She looked between them with worried red eyes. “But-”

“You have somewhere to be, remember?”

“I… but I can’t let you two-”

“I’ll be fine. Now go.”

Felicia hesitated before backing away from Lianne with a worried look. As she ran off, Lianne turned her attention back to Merrick. “What, you want to kill me without her stopping you?”

“No, I don’t want to fight.”

She laughed and moved toward him. “Yeah, sure.”

“I’m serious.”

Briskly walking toward him, she raised her sword. “Shut up and fight me.” He didn’t respond and stayed still as she pointed the blade at him. “Come on.”

“I’m tired of this Lianne.”

“You think I’m not?”

“So why continue?”

Her sword started to shake and she fought to keep her hand still. “... Why now? Why are you stopping?”

“I never wanted to start. I only fought to protect her.” He motioned down to Avaria as Lianne lowered her blade and shook her head. “Why is it always her? Why does it always come back to her?” She shook her head and looked to the floor. “Why did it have to be someone like her?”

“... I don’t know.”

Lianne dropped her sword and fell to her knees, holding her head in her hands. “Why did any of this happen? What the hell happened to me? What did I do to deserve any of this? Why couldn’t she have just left my family alone?”

“She tried not to, believe me, she tried as hard as she could. I couldn’t stop her myself.”

“But why was it me?”

“... It just was.”

He knelt down beside her, letting her take a moment. She swayed back and forth, letting out exasperated breaths. “Fuck, what the hell am I doing? What have I been doing?”

“... It’s okay.”

“How the fuck is any of this okay?”

“It’s in the past, just move on.”

“‘Just move on’? How easy do you think that is?”

“I never said it was. But you have to.”

She chuckled to herself and muttered under her breath. “I want to take your eye out right now.”

“I know.”

Looking over to him, she swore she caught a glimpse of a smirk. Shaking her head, she stared at the ground. “You really don’t want to kill me?”

“No.”

“Even after everything?”

“It’s in the past.”

Lianne’s gaze drifted over to Avaria. “What did she do?”

“Her daughter died, she transferred all her ether to revive her.”

“With the same powers?”

“... I think so.”

“What if she kills some other person’s family? What if it turns out the exact same?”

“She won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“I… I don’t.”

Rubbing her forehead, she groaned. “Why do I have to be connected to somebody again?”

“The eye?”

“Yeah.”

Merrick nodded and let out a long sigh. “I… I’m… I’m sorry Lianne. For what you’ve been through.”

She looked up to him with surprise, unsure of how to respond. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a sheath. She watched him place the sword he took from her down and push it towards her. “You’ll need that more than me.”

“What?”

“I’m staying with her.” He motioned down to Avaria’s body.

“Here?”

“I guess.”

“... Oh.” She slowly picked up the sword and clipped it to her belt. “Thanks.”

He nodded and glanced over to her as she shifted in her seat. “Isn’t somebody searching for you?”

“Sirius? He’s an idiot.”

“But an idiot who’s stuck by your side nonetheless.”

“Well...” She sighed and stood up. “You’re saying I should find him, huh?”

“Why not.”

shrugging, she turned while feeling the refreshing weight of her second sword on her hip. Turning around, she gave one last glance. “... See you.”

Merrick didn’t respond and gave her a nod, still sitting by Avaria’s side. Lianne started walking, still unsure of what she was doing.