Chapter 26: Like An Infection/ Elfenschwert des Verderbens, Todesbringer

Sweet memories of days gone started to play as if prompted to by the very mind itself, the almost dreamy landscape of faraway mountains with forests that held many creatures that made one want to wander within this land forever. A gentle smile could be seen through a child's eyes, the warm embrace of a mother and her love made this lovely scene come together. The fairies laughed and sang in the air, dancing as they played together. This was pure happiness, but that joy just like all things in this world was short lived. The mountains erupted in anger as they turned into vengeful volcanos, the forests burning letting out sounds as if they were screaming, the blood of the animals flowing like a river. Soon the mother was taken away never to be seen again, with the faces of strangers replacing her. Their evil sneers and devil like eyes shining in delight as their hands reached out to grab her, she was soon in chains as they had many tools of torture they wanted to use on her. Before any could touch her skin she screamed herself into the waking world.

She felt like she was a stranger in her own body, it was a body that was convinced through magic and mental manipulation alone that it was male. And now that had been undone she felt weird, her looked at her hands, they were small and fragile. And yet they carried the weighty suffering of a warrior, her bruises from training still remained. The confusion was what tore at her very soul, the blankets that she had found herself in were very soft and for the brief moment she had been on it the pillow even softer carrying a scented flower's aroma to it. A sharp pain ran across her head with her immediately using her left hand to touch her forehead, she had to convince herself that she was human, she had to be. Otherwise the horrifying truth of her betrayal to her own kind would send her plummeting down the great highway of hell. This was far more terrifying than facing off a thousand blood thirsty demons because there was an absolute truth to it that she couldn't escape from, and as such hell was waiting for her at the end.

Those she trusted the most, her most prided comrades were dead. Her guide in the darkness, Luke was riddled with holes in his body. Her dawning laughter that cast away the shadows, Matthews had his body skewered by knives and daggers. Her wisdom filled beacon of light, Wilson had a massive hole torn right through his chest. These were the people she trusted with her life and yet within moments they had died, she was powerless to stop the strength of one leagues ahead of her. There was only one thing to remember them by, one thing she could at least keep for her memories she had with them not go to waste, the loss of her right arm. However she knew very well that as soon as she looked at her hands, her right arm would be there was as well. And now questions she never asked herself started to latch themselves at her, what was her past?What was going to be her future?Who was she?Where did she come from?And most importantly was her destiny of being one who would bring the warm of the light of her faith all just a lie?How would she carry on from now?

Her very being was interrogated by the harsh truth, slowly getting out of bed with an unsteady trod she walked towards the only mirror which was within the room. She hadn't paid any attention to the room before she noticed how well furnished it was, it exceeded even her own bedroom in her father's home. The walls were a light pink of the rosy kind, the furniture was made from a superior kind of wood, the curtains seemed to paint this room in an almost watercolor blue color. The mirror revealed to her that she couldn't lie to herself: she was truly a woman. The mirror displayed a lady in her early twenties, fairly on the averagely tall side, hands and arms covered in scars, her ruffled long blonde hair reflecting a certain level of madness peaking out of that was the most important thing that denied her of her delusions: those sharp knife elven ears, pain filled deep sea blue eyes with eye bags beneath them, one might ask what her clothing was: a dress?A gown?Those would be the correct answers for the situation however this was where the answers were wrong: a t-shirt and shorts. Something that emphasized the ease of movement, all this did was show clearly how much of a woman she was. Any man would drool over her because of how "sexy" she was, she was attractive that much she could tell and yet she did not want to acknowledge it instead opting to get out of this room where the horrible truth would continue to haunt her.

In an effort to not think much about it her mind went into a daze wandering aimlessly. The hallways carried a dream like feeling about them, one could wander inside of them for hours on end with different scenes changing the more she walked. She froze upon hearing children laugh, the image was peaceful, blessed by the very gods themselves. Flowers bloomed within the area, the sunshine coming down to bring about a heaven like light, the clear water flowing from the stream made it even more ephemeral, most of the fairies she saw before she blacked out were here, going even further than this was the tree at the center with the area expanding into the city that she could see was in peace. As if being pushed into it, she sat down and watched the children play. Her mind began to forget all the problems that were plaguing it. This was a picturesque setting, it was art, their smiles had a certain charm to it.

"Their smiles are beautiful aren't they?I do not think we would have managed to create such a beautiful scene without the help of the Dark Elven Queen Yukiyo and her allies."

A voice said those following words accompanied by the heavy noises of metallic boots, a practice sword was laid to rest as this being sat with her.

"We've achieved much as a nation and it is all thanks to her. The blood we shed was necessary."

Said the murderer of her comrades who was smiling at the scene. Seratta seemed at peace with what was going on at the moment, and she didn't feel a sense of hatred towards her. Neither did she shrivel up in pure fear rather a sense of respect was coming out of her heart instead of her wanting to feel the opposite. But then fear started to make its wild song known in her heart once again and she began to be greatly concerned for her life and what would come after this.

"Relax. We are not going to kill ya or anything like that, nothing will happen. I promise."

She gave a reassuring smile that blew away all of her fears, it even helped her mental state to a certain extent. Those words did more to aid her than any kind of healing magic she knew from the bottom of her soul and yet the next words that would be uttered were going to throw her completely off guard just as she was beginning to feel secure.

"To tell ya the honest truth you're one of a kind. Even amongst us elves none of us can have that many fairies following us around. We looked into the matter ourselves to figure out why was this the case and how you are related to us."

"......."

"You are technically related to the former court mage, I never knew the man but Mother always said he was a kind man and yet grew distant with us after something happened and died alone in misery. After much investigation we grew to understand, his most treasured child, his daughter got married off to some scumbag noble from the Xagreas Kingdom."

This strung a chord inside of her, this was intentional, she was meant to be a weapon against the elves. Her mother was unwillingly brought to the kingdom because it would benefit both the Church and the Xagreas Kingdom. She could hear an audible crack coming from somewhere, she couldn't tell where but it felt very important.

"That daughter was a genius in magic and was blessed by the fairies themselves. Those carried on to her child, namely you. The Council of Elders kept the whole thing under wraps and got paid for it, leading our court mage to leave this world with lingering regret. I knew the motherfuckers were untrustworthy. Selling one of us like that and without our knowledge too!We've decided to publicly execute them, to amend this mistake my mother the Queen decided to adopt you into our family."

She stared at the princess who was spouting this nonsense, why would she the worst candidate be nominated to that kind of position after committing such acts of terror?!Why would they even think of such?!She was about to open her mouth to speak her thoughts out but Seratta who felt like she already knew what she was going to say put her index finger on her lips smiling even more as she did so.

"This has already been decided for you. You do not have a say in it. Everything that you have done against us was under the influence of the shitbags in the Xagreas Kingdom, all the more reason to burn the whole thing down right?The others, your big sisters are all happy that we have a new little sister we can spoil."

Seratta was elated that this had happened and placed her hand on her head patting it as she did so. The crack was becoming more and more audible the more time passed, as if in accordance to this her eyes narrowed down in pure joyful evil.

"Don't you want to take everything from them just as they did from you?Isn't your heart filled with malice for what they did to your body?The lies they fed you, the great harm they've caused to all of the innocent lives that they preach are all precious and do not need to suffer."

Like something being thrown at a window, the shattering came with a loud crash. This had been breeding the emotions that were being held down were spreading all over. It was strangling the good that she was taught by the church, her fears and doubts were vanishing like a fog in the face of the bright sun. In this case a black sun had risen to take the place of her soul and she could feel the change grow even more.

"You're one of us now, and I would love to give you the love that you deserved. Accept the change from within your soul. Mother named you after something Hawthor kept dear to his heart, Euphobia. Shall we make them fall eternally into the Abyss?And most importantly will you come with me on this journey of slaughter and bloodshed my lovely little sister"

Seratta stood up and offered her hand to her with gorgeous smile, she would kill all the nobles and church leaders who allowed this to happen. Her happiness would truly begin now. She was reborn, Cedric died alongside with his comrades and in his place was Euphobia who took up her sister's hand and rose. They had to suffer for what they did to her, write their sins in blood and be baptized in the suffering they caused for others. A different kind of being was born here, something the humans of the Xagreas Kingdom knew very well and wanted to prevented.

☆

Euphobia was to have a meeting with her new family, Seratta led the way of course because she knew the layout of the palace like it was the back of her hand. Something important was going to happen today and she had to be with everyone at that moment, confused as to why she suddenly got elevated to having an audience with the Queen and her other esteemed sisters the answer was simple and quickly shot at her question: She was family. That was all there was to it. Dressed in a uniform designed for males she appreciated the fact that she was being respected on a personal level, the uniform itself was black in color and with golden trims giving off an authoritative figure aura to her. She walked down the hallway with Seratta who was inside of the same jet black armor she found her in on that fateful day, she looked at her for a moment's glance. Seratta despite being wild and energetic could be relied upon, she was strong and yet aimed to be even stronger, she was well loved by her knights and the people who knew her. She was admirable to say the least and just like that Euphobia respected her on a level that could be understood when one had a very talented older sibling.

"Lady Seratta"

"Just call me Seratta lil sis, yeah what is it?"

"S-Seratta, what is the Dark Elven Queen like?"

"She's a good friend!She and I spoke over what kind of monster was fun killing and she mentioned fighting a horde of orcs all by herself using some kind of monster bait was the best way to grow stronger, she's utterly wild that one I'll tell ya!"

It seemed that Seratta enjoyed being in the presence of the Dark Elven Queen, she never thought that the elven royalty would interact so well with dark elven royalty.

"What about her subordinates?"

"Oh those guys are fantastic. Especially Lord Odin, he and I do a lot of training together, he teaches me new techniques of efficiently killing my enemies everyday. My kindred spirit Wynter also a good person she understands entirely what its like to be a knight, truly the gods have blessed me with some good friends and allies"

Euphobia didn't know much about this Lord Odin but Wynter was the first princess of the beastkin kingdom, that much she knew and the fact that the Dark Elven Queen had already made her subordinate that would mean the Beastkin Empire was backing them as well. She never thought that the rabbit hole would go this deep and it was going ever deeper.

"Chill okay?They are the nicest people you will ever meet. Especially Queen Yukiyo, she will make you instantly like her. Mother says she is like her mother that way"

"I will take note of that"

Previously when she had the personality of a brash and flirty youth she would be excited but now she had her own personality it would cause problems if she were to continue that kind of attitude to elven royalty and other similarly important figures. This one sided conversation of theirs had to end however as they had arrived at where they were supposed to go, the door was right before them and it was now time to act. Seratta looked at Euphobia one more time before patting her on the head with a smile, she had never been doted on when she was younger but this was closest to it. Feeling slightly embarrassed by this behavior she blushed for a single moment before the door was opened, a unique lineup could be found in here: a dark elf, a dragonborn, an undead knight, a demon, a human, and several elves. The setting was light hearted and they were discussing as if in an informal meetup, Euphobia knew immediately the side where the variety of races that the room housed was the Dark Elven Queen. She could tell that she was a beauty even from this distance and so were her sisters and mother. She felt like a fish out of water.

"Oh it seems the new family member is here, we can finally begin"

"Welcome in our dear new little sister"

The introductions of her family were already underway: The responsible looking one was the first born Rosa, the researcher type looking mage was the second born Clyne, the serious intellectual was the third born Hortus and the fifth born wasn't around because she was playing with the children of the Dark Elven Queen. And finally her mother who appeared to be an older version of Rosa welcomed her into their family with a heartwarming hug, after this they began to discuss more serious issues.

"I have to thank you for your contributions so far, they've really helped us"

"You're welcome, I came with a purpose as I usually do."

"Speak, I am willing to hear what you have to say"

"We are going to have the dwarves join us"

"What?"

Euphobia looked at the Dark Elven Queen like she was insane, the elves for the longest time never saw eye to eye with the dwarves. This was the unspoken rule of the world, they could never agree to work with each other hence why they never once talked to each other. But she saw the eyes of the ones inside of the room, that included Seratta's they all had an accustomed gaze in their eyes as if this was commonplace here.

"As you already know I am not entirely normal when it comes to these kinds of things"

"More like she lacks common sense hence why she can easily ignore it"

"I agree with you there"

Amaryl interjected with the dragonborn's words as she nodded whilst drinking the tea that was handed to her by the gorgeous maid who was in the room.

"Let bygones be bygones right?"

"But what do you wish to convince them of an alliance?I am more than sure words are not going to convince the earthfolk"

"I have just the thing and it also involves the Xagreas Kingdom, you just have to come with me. Oh yeah the new daughter can come along too, I am sure she wants to see what's gonna happen right?"

Her face gave it away, she was immensely curious as to how this would play out. It seemed she was reeled in by the allure of the elves becoming comrades with the dwarves. The bigger question was how would they get to the dwarves, they neither had the time or magic to do so but the Dark Elven Queen Yukiyo simply smiled as she saw right through her.

"So then how about we make a new alliance on the fly again?"

"You wonder me to no end. Alright then, I agree to go with you and hear what you have to say at the Dwarven Kingdom of Hymdall."

"Great. Let us go then."

"Lady Yukiyo if I may ask, where's my sister?"

"Wynter is with Sturm at the moment, they are practicing together"

"Ohhhhhhhhh can I join?!"

"Sure!"

"Thanks you are the best!"

Seratta smiled as she walked off with a black eyeball that opened some sort of portal that she enters in. Amaryl and Yukiyo began to talk as Euphobia was right behind them.

"If I may ask how did you even locate the kingdom?How do you know the royal capital in the first place"

"I sent one of the Dark Matter right before I first met you guys and things worked out after that"

It was a well established fact that the Dwarven Kingdom was within the Nasgraf Mountain Range but it wasn't necessarily known where. Their capital used to be very close to both of the elven countries but it seemed they shifted because they disliked being near the knife ears. But it seemed that this woman either had very powerful skills that could change the world or she was so irregular in it that all would end up being the Demon King herself or the best answer would be both of the above. Euphobia gasped at the sight of the portal that tore through the fabric of reality, she was amazed by how beautiful it was on the inside: the myriad of colors flowing like a river, the glass like floor that they were walking on and the numerous star like objects in the distance. She felt like she was entering a whole new world because of this, but just as it had began it had also ended as shortly. Soon Euphobia found herself in the midst of a group of dwarves who were confused by the appearance of the weird looking portal that entered the throne room, they held spears and swords in pure fear as to what came into their most precious place. She could understand them coming from their position they were a mysterious group that easily breached their security and could do anything at any point in time.

Euphobia allowed herself to look around and saw how well decorated the throne room was, a different assortment of gems covered the pillars that supported the room, the floor was made from a clear golden like marble, the carpet that reached the king was made from a sort of metallic fabric and the throne of the king himself was a rather rare crystal known as Earthen Sky. She nodded that the dwarves had truly taken in the stride of being one with the earth and the things that dwelt in it.