It's been five minutes since I split from Klint. I'm heading to see Maria as I'm talking to myself...
I met her on a battlefield, though "met" isn't really the right word. More like I was busy slaughtering everything in sight while she lay on the ground, a massive chunk of rock crushing her legs. A rock that is a part of mountain none other than I destroyed
It was a rough war. The enemy was....eh. A little strong I can say, I guess. Back then my hair was even longer, wild and tangled, but soaked in blood and sweat it hung flat, sticking to my eyes or slipping into my mouth. I noticed her watching me. Felt kinda weird to be honest. I always felt like a kid while fighting, yet I always knew it wasn't how it seemed like to other people.
I always act with my family's safety as my top priority. Second comes my own enjoyment.That never changes...
When it comes to; how we got there at the first place...If I remember correctly, there was an opponent before me who possessed fire Sovereignty. By then, everything around us had become ruins—villages, towns, cities burning under the flames, turning to ash, while the governments or leaders people trusted so much offered no help. I did. If it were my own choice, I wouldn't have done it, but my brothers were far too stubborn. They didn't want anyone to get hurt while I couldn't give a shit. Sometimes I feel like The Devil when I compare them to myself...
I listened to them and went to the battlefield. With Arthur, my right hand...hoping it might be at least a little entertaining, I agreed and decided to fight.
The enemy was gearing up for his next attack...yet. He didn't even get the chance to shout the name of his or Sovereignty before I ended everything. I told the brothers who joined after me and Arthur, that we were done there. I gave the order to pull back after making sure of the enemy's death by crushing his head under my feet. Then, while everyone else waded through the blood-soaked field, I sat down on a rock.
I'm sure there was the blood of at least a thousand men on that stone. I wouldn't have thought about things like this before. And I still don't—but… when enough time passes, your perspective on past events can change in strange ways.
After sitting down, I brushed my hand lightly over the stone. Strangely enough, a remnant of thousands of men remained on my hand. I knew it would be there, but I realized just how much I had normalized certain things.
Thousands of people. If I were to see Arthur dead, I would set continents ablaze and start massacres. Now that I think about it… someone else there had their own Arthur too. Thousands of Arthurs…that none other than I killed.
Truth is, the only reason I stayed was because I wanted to get her out from under that boulder. But for a while I just sat there, staring at nothing.
That's when she called out to me. "Faust," she said. Faust.
How had she addressed me like that? They wouldn't speak to me that way on the battlefield or during a mission. At least not loud enough for someone else to hear
I didn't believe my ears. Not couldn't. Didn't.
But for some reason… I answered to it. It snapped me out of whatever trance I'd fallen into. I had woken up.
Not sharper, not clearer, not anything like that. Just… different. Completely different.
I lifted the rock off her legs. They were crushed.
The stone had been on his legs for who knows how long. The flesh was exposed, with some pieces of bone sticking out. Blood even splashed onto my face. I wiped it away quickly with my hand. I tasted the last drop left on my finger. It was tasteless. How weird.
I didn't say a word. She didn't either. I carried her to an abandoned house somewhere on that battlefield, laid her on the bed, dressed her wounds. Since she couldn't walk, I left a day's worth of food and water by her side.
She'd need the bathroom eventually, but I already knew I'd be back soon enough. To keep the brothers from noticing, I didn't touch any of the trees near Corehold.
Instead, I went to another continent, cut down ten or twenty trees, and built a house in a spot not too close and not too far from Corehold. Seven hours later, it was done. Not because I were slow or anything but... I just wanted to take a little nap before I started.... for six and a half hours...
I went back...
The walls and the roof were almost on the verge of collapse because of the war. I glanced around a bit. The food was still there—just as fresh as when I first brough.t it. He looked the same as well. As if not hours, but mere milliseconds had passed.
I lifted her from her bed and carried her on my back. I took her all the way to the house I had built with my own hands
Inside… there was a simple wooden chair, one I had made. A single bed sized for her, one I had made. All of it stood there inside the house with nothing else around, inside the house I had built.
Up to that point, we hadn't spoken a word to each other. The only thing she'd ever said was calling me "Faust." Everything unfolded in this strange, quiet way.
You know that feeling sometimes—like you're supposed to do something, like something's guiding you? I don't know if you get it, but that's what it was like.
There was already a barrier around, the Corehold barrier and the one I made for the house.
Barriers come in many forms. Some let you pass through to the other side as if nothing were there, like a void in space-time. Some merely make things invisible. Some is also invisible, but require you to reach a specific speed to enter. There are all kinds of barriers like that. I had set up one that required a certain speed—just a centimeter before entry, I dive about a meter forward inside as if teleporting, hiding everything until the very last moment
We had set up the same thing inside Corehold… however, since it was constructed with the energy of more than one person, no human could ever reach the speed needed to enter that area. For that reason, we...the barrier's owners, excluded ourselves from that condition, meaning we can enter freely whenever we want. These barriers also ensure secrecy, because without reaching the required speed, you can't see what's inside. I made that part to make it more unique
I didn't want that. I didn't want them to see. Thats the reason I made the barrier by myself...
After I laid Maria on the bed, I was about to head out again to find food, but she stopped me.
She grabbed my wrist. Her grip was tight. I didn't expect such strength from a woman. It felt unreal.
She was white-skinned… pale. Sickly, even. But very beautiful. She didn't fit my standards, but if objectivity was required—she was beautiful. Gray hair tinged with white, pale skin, pink lips. Her eyes were gray too. Like mine. The clothes I dressed her in were white as well. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but… at the very least, it looked harmonious.
She said she didn't need to eat. She pulled herself up with her arms since her legs wouldn't work, leaned her back against the wall like wooden thing the one thats part of the bed.
She had such a peaceful voice. That could stop wars.
"I don't need sleep. I don't need food. I just want to talk to you."
Those were her words. I didn't think anything of it.
From that moment on, after every adventure, every war, every fight,face-off, duel, mess, or headache—I'd find myself at her door.
Every single time. I'd just drag the chair to the head of her bed and talk for hours.
When did it start? When did it happen? I don't know. Not because I forgot—it's more like it never really "started." Like there's nothing to remember. Like it was always there.
I'm not even sure how old I am. Just somewhere between nineteen and twenty-one could be twenty-two, too I guess...
Right now, I'm standing at Maria's door.
Today…is a good day.