It was dark in Brax's room. Too dark. The night was full of clouds, starless and moonless, and was all but visible. His mind raced, full of thoughts, worries, and uncertainty. Was the path he was going on really the right one? He thought he knew, but ever since Xinyu left the world, he wasn't so sure. He'd continued to stumble on in a daze, trying to fulfill a loose purpose he wasn't even sure had meaning. To make a world that's safe for them, that's what he said he wanted, but he couldn't figure out what that truly meant.
His wife. His daughter. Could he really become their hero? Was it right for him to leave them after a single success? As a matter of fact, he hadn't even won any of the battles he fought. He merely survived them. Not just that, but he hadn't even visited his family when he was just in Wunderdum. It's true they were pressed for time, but surely he could have spared a few moments to see them.
As the weeks went by, and the adventure grew increasingly perilous, Brax began to doubt himself more than ever.
"If you were here instead of me, what would you do?" Brax asked himself in a whisper. He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but the words just slipped out.
"Talking about your fallen friend?" Kofi asked in his deep, powerful voice. He lay in the bed across from Brax as the inn rooms hosted two persons each.
"Sorry, I thought you were asleep," Brax said.
"With air as tense as this, I doubt anyone is," Kofi said.
"That ain't true. I can hear some loud snorin' from the other room," Brax said. "That Silva fella is a peculiar one."
"I guess so. His nonchalance kind of reminds me of that Eastern girl," Kofi chuckled.
"Xinyu? In a way, yeah, but her carelessness was different," Brax said. "That Silva guy is genuine, I can tell. But Xinyu, well, I feel like some of it was faked."
"Feigning carelessness? Why would she do that?" Kofi asked.
"It was kinda like a mask she always wore on her face, just like her smile," Brax said. "You wouldn't be able to tell just by lookin' at her, but every once in a while, you'd see a look of despair in her eyes. It'd quickly flicker away, but when it happened, it was unmistakable."
"You don't look it, but you're the observant type, aren't you?" Kofi asked.
"I s'pose so, but I really just like hanging onto every detail, good or bad," Brax said.
"I guess you would have known her best of all," Kofi said. "Well then, maybe you can tell me a bit more about her and her past."
"Y'all keep saying I knew her best, but that ain't true," Brax said. "Seriously, I don't know a damn thing about her. She was a mystery. Whatever pain she went through before she came into my life was her secret, but I do know one thing. Beneath her strength n' overbearing presence was a kind soul. Her smile was real enough, that much I know."
"I see. I just wanted to know what kind of person it took to slay a god," Kofi said.
"Someone who does not give up, does not falter, not even for a moment," Musique's soft voice said through the doorway as he entered the room. "Ah, sorry I couldn't help overhear your conversation and felt the need to join in. I can't sleep with that guy's snoring anyway."
"I was curious about that, actually," Brax said. "How did you guys meet anyway? And ain't you Kitsune's son? What's that all 'bout?"
"Apparently, I was abandoned at the foot of her mountain as a kid," Musique said. "She took me to the top and raised. At the peak, there are so many square visions in the sky she calls 'screens' that display what she sees through her many 'eyes' across the land. Basically, I get to watch humanity as much as I want, like a play that never ends."
"Eyes?" Kofi asked.
"Kitsune has many through the lands. Little animals, plants, humans, there are many projections she has scattered everywhere that can see everything," Musique said. "Of course, that excludes the Eastlands since she was banned from there. If they caught her spying over there, they'd probably kill her."
"So you were raised by that deity. That's why you have such a relationship with the fox," Kofi said.
"Yeah, she's my mother," Musique said. "She trained me and taught me everything I know. These past couple of months are the first time I'd actually descended into the human world, though."
"Ah, n' that's how you met Xinyu, right?" Brax said.
"Well, sort of," Musique said. "A few months ago, Kitsune sent me on a mission to retrieve this flute, which took me by surprise since I'd never been to the human world before. I was scared, but she seemed confident I could do it. Of course, she was wrong because I would have died in the desert if Xinyu hadn't saved me from drying up."
"So that's where she went off to back then," Brax said. "Cygnus came to us lookin' for her, but we had no idea where she coulda been. He couldn't even track her or nothin'."
"Likely because we were underground," Musique said. "If it weren't for her, I would never have succeeded in my mission, but more so, I never would have known such people existed. As the first human I met, she instantly became my inspiration. It's silly to say, but in this era, heroes don't seem to exist like they used to. I've watched and watched, always hearing fables about them, but never actually witnessing one until she came along. I may not have known her long, but I'm glad I got to meet her, even if it was only for a fleeting moment."
"Yeah, we all feel the same way," Brax said, lying back in his bed.
Before he could fall asleep once more, the sound of loud thunder crashing echoed from outside, followed by a growing orange light and ringing bells. The three of them ran over to the window and saw the entire town had become encapsulated in flame, many of the buildings collapsing into liquid goo. On the horizon, a tall demon came stomping through from the forest, blocking the moonlight. It was as tall as a watchtower and entirely red, causing destructive disarray with each stride. The spider-like entity seemed to have a hundred thinly strewn legs and impaled victims by the dozen with sharp needle feet as it walked through buildings. On the tip of the bloody demon's skull was a woman embedded half into it, grinning sadistically and bathing in the ensuing cries that shrouded the otherwise silent night. It was Elizabeth Bathory, the Blood Countess, riding atop a creature she'd created entirely of blood.
"Not her again…" Musique moaned, backing away. Clutching the phoenix flute tightly in his hand, he clasped it tightly to himself, knowing it was for certain what she was after. After splitting up with Cygnus and seeing her there in the moment, he knew instantly that it could be the only thing she sought.
Red burst through their door, followed by Silva.
"Grab your things, we're leaving immediately," Red said.
It didn't take them more than a few minutes to grab every bag that mattered and scurry down the stairs, half-dressed and full of panic. In their minds, they had hoped that Arthur would have found a way to deal with her, but after what Cygnus had said, they knew it was wishful thinking. They could only pray that they could slip away in the ensuing chaos unscathed. When they got to the bottom of the steps, the seemingly unassuming bartender was there, waving them to the counter with his arm.
"Lancelot warned me that she might show up, but I didn't think she'd be here so soon," Red scoffed, biting her thumb. "Come, there's a secret hatch underneath the bar we can-"
She couldn't finish her thought, for the doors opened calmly, and the Blood Countess walked in, her tortuous grin spanning ear to ear. The front of her body was dark, lightened only by the white of her toothy smile. The creature she created continued to rampage throughout the town, leaving only the inn untouched.
"Good evening, friends," she said. Behind her, the group could see through the crack of the door that the entire town was burning away, and on the ground were dozens of bloody corpses, melting into nothing. The puddles of cooling scarlet gore began to create a branch of veins that led straight to the vile woman's feet, pumping into her shadow and increasing her magic energy with each slain foe.
The pressure she exerted would have been enough to bring them all to their knees as it had before, had they not experienced it before. Driven by utter fear, a certain someone had developed a contingency to counteract it. It was Musique, whose song was enough to evaporate the air of intense energy so that they could continue to stand: a spell he'd formulated by watching Arthur's king magic and emulating it. Of course, that was all he could do. They each knew their chances of getting away were still remarkably low.
Red removed her shortsword from its holster and slit her own arm. It wasn't deep enough to cause any serious tears, but it drew blood and brought on enough pain to reset her mind so that she could regain control over her tingling nerves.
"Hey, barkeep, open the hatch," Red said, standing in front of the others. She spoke without ever removing her gaze from the countess. "Follow the tunnel. At the end, there's a couple of snoedoe tied up, which we were planning to use to get to the secret base. They're trained to know exactly where to go. Just hop on and don't look back."
"You're gonna stay here and fight that?" Brax asked.
"What choice do I have?" Red asked.
"Cute that you think you can steal enough time for them to get away," Elizabeth cackled, walking forward. Red raised her sword, blood dripping from her self-inflicted wound. Her eyes shimmered as they reflected the flicking flames of the burning backdrop. She began to tremble once more, and so, she cut herself again, this time on the other arm. She kept going deeper until the shaking stopped completely.
"Cute that you think you can beat me so easily," Red retorted. In that moment, Red knew that she was going to die. She could feel it. She wasn't confident she could buy more than a few seconds, but it was all she could do if Sako wasn't around.
Her mind went blank as the others scurried behind and ran behind the counter, jumping through the escape hatch until it was only the two of them. Finally, Red dropped her sword as the Blood Countess approached and raised her scythe. It seemed she couldn't do it, after all. She lacked the resolve to fight.
"Oh? You're not going to fight me?" Elizabeth asked. "What happened to your tough talk?"
"Fight you? I haven't a prayer," Red said in a shaky voice. "If I'm being honest, I can't even move without that boy's magic. I'm terrified to all hell. I just wanted to look cool in the end… just like her."
"Hmm, you look familiar," Elizabeth said. "Aren't you the child… who killed the queen?"
"I am Princess Sako's loyal knight," Red said. "Nothing more than that."
"So you did! Good job!" Elizabeth said. "One more stain erased."
"You're wrong, Countess," Red said. "You and I, we are the stains of this world. We're the ones who need to be erased."
"You think so?" the Blood Countess asked, bringing her scythe's blade to the tip of Red's throat. She pressed it in slightly, enough to draw blood, but not enough to slice it open.
"Tell me, Miss Red," Elizabeth said. "What would Sako do if she found your body tattered and torn here? Would she be angry? Would that cause her even more despair before I snuff her life out?"
"No, she couldn't care less about me," Red said. "I'm simply the object of her hate."
"Is that so?" Elizabeth asked. "Pity."