● Hlret desert
Eryth looked into the dried-out well from above with Sven standing by his side. "All I have to do, is find Wendy and exorcise Wendy, right?"
"Sounds simple, but I should warn you that many who have been lowered into that well never returned."
"Right. I just have to wait in there, until it's dark, which should happen today."
The head of the village nodded. "Indeed, that simple."
"Okay then, I'll see you in a few hours," the dark brown-haired man said before jumping into the well. He landed with a thud, almost twisting his ankle, but well off later on.
The moment he looked up to speak with the head of the village, the well entrance shut close, quickly followed by a locking sound, leaving Eryth with only his sword which was sheathed in his belt and a hole full of darkness. "Wow."
Eryth extended his hand to illuminate the place with light from a fire he formed around his palm.
"Alright Wendy, there's no need to complicate things, just show yourself so I can slay you and we'll be on our way, I promise to even make this worth your while." He said, before pacing forward.
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Grevla sat on a thin bench near the forest that gave a clear visual of where the fight between her friends and the General of Hex faced off. She could still see the effect of the fight and it made her angry even more. Her left hand gripped the handle of her sword tightly and her right hand was clenched on her lap. Her younger sister, Heyt approached her and slowly sat on the space next to her, also letting herself drown into the silence until a few seconds later.
"Are you still blaming yourself for what happened here?"
Grevla shut her eyes and inhaled before exhaling. "If only I was here, if I had not gone with Eryth, a lot of lives would have been saved, it's my fault, I screwed up yet again."
"You're blaming yourself again."
"Yes, Heyti, yes… if I was here I would have at least joined the fight and perhaps tip the scale of this battle. Because of me, many have died, Uobleza and…" she stopped. "They may still have been alive if I…"
"For heaven's sake stop this already, Grevla!" Heyt yelled and rose to her feet. "You are doing the same thing you did after the palace, you have this… this… omniscience bias and… and your stupid saviour complex," she barked.
"Whenever something goes wrong and you weren't there you think things would have worked out differently. Even before the palace incident, even the times I got injured during Royal training, just… stop! You're not a goddess whose presence would change the circumstances of things, for fuck sake, it happened, move on!" She stormed away, leaving Grevla alone with her thoughts and the words she'd just got stabbed with.
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Eryth leaned on a wall and slowly crashed down to the ground, wiping a pool of sweat from his face. "I'm gonna die in here." He dropped his hand, letting the fire he had created disappear.
Just when he was about to give up hope, a low continuous weeping noise filled the air.
"Please."
"Help."
"Let me go."
"Please."
"Don't do it."
Eryth got up on his feet and followed the weeping sound into an area with a small opening in the roof that allowed a little light from the now-dark night sky to shine through.
"Err… Wendy?" He called out while reaching for his sword.
The girl who was curled up on the ground stopped and raised her head to look at Eryth. She had long dark hair that flowed down to her back and blue eyes. Her hair was unkept and she wore a ragged gown that was torn in many places and stained with blood. "Who are you?" She questioned.
Eryth slipped his sword back into its scabbard and approached the girl. "What are you doing down here… err… crying?"
She sniffled and wiped her tears. "I can't get out, no matter how hard I try, I can't get out or make all the voices stop…" her tears started again. "It hurts, a lot… it is as if their voices are crawling around in my head, please make it stop, please please please please…" she curled herself up again and began rocking back and forth while repeating the words.
Eryth furrowed before sitting on the ground in front of her while staying on alert. "What voices do you hear?"
The girl slowly raised her head to look at Eryth again, she held his stare for a moment before bursting into a hysterical laugh that started low. "Voices? They are not just voices, they are real, they are all around now and they want to get it, will you let them in? They promise not to take up too much space…" she suddenly turned back to tears. "They are lying, they lied to me… oh… don't let them in, let them in, don't don't don't… they'll take up everything, it'll get itchy and painful in your head, it hurts, please make it stop, stop."
Eryth leaned in and pulled the dark-haired girl close to himself, hugging her tightly. "It's fine, it's going to be fine, just stay calm."
Rune markings appeared on the ground below then, emanating the two in their black color as Eryth used his act to absorb the strange Energy surrounding her.
She trembled and groaned for a while before finally coming to a stop. Seconds later, she pulled back with teary eyes and looked into Eryth's. "You're not from the village."
The dark brown-haired man exhaled as he let the energy he had just absorbed sink in. He then rose to his feet and staggered backwards but eventually got a hold of himself. "No, I am not."
"Were you also betrayed by Sven and the others?" She questioned.
Eryth furrowed. "Why don't I ask the question?" He folded his hands, easing the amount of energy he put out on guard as he realised there was no sign of hostility from her. "I was told you were dead and only down here as a spirit being, yet it doesn't seem that way, and I was able to cast my act on a soul, your soul… spirit beings shouldn't have a soul."
<Spirit beings, how do I put this? Well, when a person dies, and if somehow they fail to make it to the other realm, they remain in this realm as a…? you guessed it, Spirit Being. And as a Spirit being, they can neither harm nor help any living being, and so Acts does not work on them.>
"I see," Wendy said before looking down at her injury-filled feet. "You were also sent here by Sven to slay me, right?"
"You were also made to believe that I am crazy and I'm haunting innocent people for what one person did, right?"
"Isn't that what happened?"
The dark-haired lady sighed and curled herself up, wrapping her arms around her shin and her shin glued to her chest. "Those people deserve everything that's happening to them right now, and I will continue to haunt them even after my death."
"So there's another side of the story?" Eryth asked. "Tell me, what happened?"
"Why don't I show you?"
….
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