Clervie stood across from Peruere, solemn determination in her eyes as the two prepared to fight to the death as Crucabena had ordered.
Both stood, silent, watching for signs the other would move first. Neither did, not out of cowardice, but out of tactic, whoever moved first would have openings the other could exploit. Clervie, wielding a spear, was at an advantage due to her range. She would be able to strike Peruere long before she would be in range of her friend's rapier. If it had been her from a year ago, Clervie would have charged anyway, but now, she knew she had to put on an actual fight. She couldn't just throw it, that would be too suspicious especially if Crucabena had anyone capable of sensing elemental energy hidden away to oversee the fight.
"Peri, we both know I have an advantage at range, I have no need to get closer to you to fight you, so why aren't you moving?" Asked Clervie as she looked at her friend.
Peruere stood there, a tired expression on her face. "Why did you come back… you were free like you always told me you wanted… why come back? You knew the risk."
Clervie smiled gently, "I came back because I wasnt free, not while evryone else here was still suffering. This is wrong, what mother is doing to you all. I could not rest easy knowing that I was "free" at the cost of abandoning you. Now come on, or Luis is going to get hurt."
Peruere did not budge. The tip of her rapier dipped as she looked at Clervie, much to Crucabena's clear dismay.
"I.. I don't want to lose you…" said Peruere, her grip on her blade tightening even as her face remained impassive. "When you were gone… the day seemed colder… everything seemed emptier…"
Crucabena was clearly getting impatient as her foot started to tap on the ground.
"Don't write me off yet Peri. I have gotten a lot stronger since we last fought. Who knows maybe I could beat you toda-"
"THEN DO IT!" yelled Peruere, interrupting Clervie's sentence.
"I don't want to lose you, or have to live on after being the one to kill you today." Said Peruere, finally being able to articulate her feelings. "You are my only friend. The only one to look into these eyes that everyone else fears, not because you don't feel fear, but because you care about me and want me to feel normal for once. Death today would be less painful than living to see a tomorrow without you." she said as a small tear made its way out of her eyes.
"Peri…" said Clervie, sadness filling her green eyes, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you by leaving selfishly only to come back. But I cannot be free until you and the others are free to wear happy smiles without fear. And between the two of us, it has to be you who will be the victor today. I cannot get mother to stop. To her, I am nothing but a nuisance and I will never be what she wants me to be; but you, you are her favorite, and one day, maybe even if she won't listen you could force her hand."
Glancing at the servant who was slowly moving his arms to drop the small boy. Clervie looked Peruere straight in the eyes as she took a step forward, throwing the shoddy spear she had been given, with a burst of Anemo Energy, the spear crossed the distance between them and shaved a lock of Peruere's hair from the side of her head as Peruere, Crucabena and her servant's eyes all widened with shock as Clervie summoned her spear from her vision, a bright unmistakable aura emanating from the small object. "Just because you will win today, doesn't mean I will let you take me out easily, nor will I let you throw the fight. If I am your friend, then do me the honor of giving me a true fight before my end."
With a burst of speed, Clervie was in front of Peruere, driving the shaft of her spear into the latter's gut and sending her flying.
Gritting her teeth in frustration and pain, Peruere flipped around in the air and landed on her feet facing her friend. "Why do you have to be so difficult?!? I am trying to save you!!" she yelled.
"I don't need to be saved. While I was free I made the choice to come back. None of you here had that opportunity. This is MY CHOICE, now come on Peri, before another innocent child is hurt for one of mother's plots." Said Clervie as she summoned her transparent clone and started to make wind slashes towards Peruere who managed to dodge.
Curcabena, seeing the action had a smile on her face, she had feared that this would be dull with how unexpectedly hesitant Peruere was in fighting Clervie. Thankfully it seemed the little nuisance had grown more self aware as well as a spine. She knew she was nothing but a whetstone to be used to sharpen the claws of her king, and instead of running away like she expected it, she faced her demise with honor.
"Rouse yourself Doveir, it would be a shame to have less determination than dear Clervie here, and with all has willingly given it would be a shame for little Luis to be hurt." She said, her eyes locked on the fight in front of her.
With Clervie pressing her, Peruere was eventually forced to draw on her flames in order to counter Clervie's ranged attacks. Minutes passed and wounds accumulated, Clervie and Peruere were standing across from one another once more, Clervie bearing more marks from the battle, but both panting heavily.
"So this is it.. Seems like we both only have enough in the tank for a final attack to decide this battle... Peri.. Promise me something." Said Clervie as she looked Peruere in the eyes while panting, using Anemo energy to bring her voice directly to Peruere's ear.
Peruere looked at her, her face a blank mask painted with blood seeping from several cuts, nevertheless, she nodded for Clervie to continue.
"We both know I am not walking out of this, even if I were to kill you here. So, promise me after this fight, burn my remains. I don't want mother to give it to that doctor guy like the other children to experiment with. And after that, protect the other children in my stead, and overthrow mother when you get the chance… I am sorry to leave all this on your shoulders my friend." said Clervie through the connection.
Slowly closing her eyes, Peruere turned her face downward and nodded subtly.
Readying her mark, Clervie made a charge towards Peruere, intentionally leaving her left side open.
Peruere readied her blade as Clervie charged, she could see that Clervie wasn't aiming anywhere vital, but she could see a lot of Anemo energy being condensed around her for this final attack. As she watched, Clervie changed from a charge to a throwing stance, moving her body to let loose her spear. Taking her opportunity, Peruere charged toward her too, ducking under the pathway of the spear and moving forward even as the wind Clervie generated kicked up a lot of dust around them, making it almsot impossible to see her. As Clervie stood there after throwing her weapon, Peruere struck, a spray of crimson cut out of the dust storm, marking the moment she buried her rapier into her friend's chest.
Wrapping an arm around Clervie as her arm fell from where it had been positioned after throwing the spear, Peruere gently held her, Clervie did not speak, and perhaps she couldn't, Peruere wasn't entirely sure where she had been pierced by her blade. All the fight seemed to have left her as Peruere held her close, tears flowing from her eyes.
Feeling Clervie's weight in her arms, the world seemed to narrow around Peruere, all she could see was the deep red liquid painting the grass and blade sticking out the back of her friend. She couldn't hear anything, but unlike the silence she was used to, this one was heavy, both still and pounding against her head. As the world seemed to shrink around her, sensations and emotions compressing and overwhelming her, reality seemed to break, dropping Peruere into a numbing void. while trapped in that overwhelmingly numb it was all Peruere could do to keep herself together even as a broken laugh forced itself out of her mouth, the shock of which jarred her back to reality.
Peruere didn't scream, and after a few seconds of looking at her friend, water ceased flowing from her eyes, her screams, her tears wouldn't reach the one she had lost, nor would they move the one who had caused her demise. Her eyes burned as she felt the power within her blood start to shift, almost like it was starting to boil, the temperature around her increased sharply, the grass drying out in seconds as her innate pyro aligned abilities fed upon her emotions.
Deep down, the spark of disdain Peruere held for Crucabena changed, as she felt Clervie's weight in her arms, dead because of her mother's plots, a cold flame ignited, demanding retribution. By the time she woke from her thoughts, she realized she didn't feel Clervie breathing, her green eyes stared off towards a distant place in the sky before Peruere slowly closed them with her hand, not wanting to look at the emerald orbs devoid of the sparkle they had once held. At the same time, she pulled out her rapier as she layers Clervie down onto the ground.
Seeing Peruere's unmoving position, Crucabena tried to approach, but as she did, flames sparked out of the dry grass, forming spikes that tried to impale her. Easily moving out of the way she retreated out of the energy's range. "Come dear, pull yourself together, I know how devastating this accident must have been for you, but you need to calm down, we need to take you and Clervie back home." she said.
The temperature only increased after she spoke, as Peruere slowly stood, her back to Crucabena as she looked down at Clervie. If it weren't for the hole in the chest around her heart, it almost looked like Clervie was laying there asleep. Reaching her hand down, Peruere opened her palm and let a burst of flame out. The black and crimson flames quickly covered Clervie's body like dry tinder, quickly covering her form under raging waves of flame.
Almost as quickly as they had caught, the flames extinguished, where the body had been, remained only ash and a small ornament, an inactive vision with a murky white gem, bending down, Peruere picked it up. Despite the flames that had surrounded it, the metal and gem wasn't burning hot, in fact it was rather cold. Picking it up, Peruere turned to face Crucabena, her face blank as she forcibly drew in her power.
Off in the distance, Clervie cried, having long since been patched up by Carman, it was all she could do to not rush to her friend's side; she cursed Carman for having her do this to her best friend, for not putting his brilliant mind into finding another way around this issue, but after a while she stopped but continued to watch as Peruere and the remaining members of the Hearth returned to the orphanage with Crucabena.
As she watched, Clervie could see a cruel smile on her mother's face as she looked at Peruere's sad form. As she did, Clervie felt the little hope she had that her mother would be able to change, to become a real mother, fade entirely, the dream she had of making her family happy together faded, as no matter how much strength she gained, it would not fix what was wrong with her mother.
As she put her dream to rest, the light of her vision faded, leaving only another empty shell.
Carman, sensing the shift in elemental energy turned and was the first to see the change, and his eyes went wide as he ran over to ask what was wrong.
In his panic, Carman did not hear the notification from his system notifying him of a quest's completion.
-To be continued