Nii-sama.

I sneak behind the ten others, invisible with the power of the Murasaki Kagami, and carefully muffling my footfalls and other traces of my activity. The lagoon was a unique challenge. The milling adventurer clean-up crew helped though. Their sloshing helped conceal my own, and I was able to swipe extra rations.

Why am I staying hidden?

It is for the best this way, I assure myself for the umpteenth time.

Much like when I initially showed interest in the group when there was just a trio, I should remain a hidden asset.

If Nii-sama needs protection, I shall be there. But until then...

I barely restrain a sigh.

Whatever is wrong with me?

They turn a corner in the distance, so I make haste to catch up.

"Who are you? Following why?" Suddenly greets me as I turn the corner. What!?

It's the metal bladesward girl. The one who staggers her sentences strangely. She is looking straight at where my shoulder is. She can't actually see me.

The others have moved on, leaving her here. Surely, it's just a coincidence.

"Can't see you. But the children on you speak to me. Stop hiding, if you are not threat."

Curses. Of course, I am carrying plenty of metal things. Needles, Darts, Kunai... some are bound to have metal spirits...

Well... this is unfortunate, I was careless.

I dispel the Murasaki Kagami.

"Ah. You are girl ninja."

"You know me?" I ask.

"Perhaps not aware. When you slept, all us saw you. Princess showed. So, you have recovered... from madness?"

I feel ashamed.

I can still hardly believe I threatened Nii-sama and Kali.

"Face honest like metal. Why not apologise? You are remorseful." She says, cocking her head.

"I cannot, yes."

"Reason?" She asks.

I hesitate.

"Because you are... afraid of love. Because you liked to think of yourself... as a weapon." She decides for me.

I nearly jump. How does...?!

"Hehe. You surprisingly like me. I too once a weapon. A rebellion. I was stabbed. But survived... And stabbed back... I killed a lot." She sighs.

I'm shocked. A rebellion? This girl is from... Aarotir, then? She escaped the bloodbath ten years ago? That would explain her tan, and her soft voice, and the time frame works.

She holds her scythe over her shoulder, and runs her hand through her side-tail with her spare hand, giving me an expectant gaze with her stunning green eyes. I wonder what she wants from me...

"H-how do you... how do you forget all the faces...?" Spills from my mouth. Again, it seems, my curiosity cannot be restrained.

She looks angry.

"You do not." She says, deadpan.

I sigh. What was I expecting?

"And you should not."

That I expected less...

"Those you killed. They died to support you. In some ways, they have become... your family."

That... that’s an odd way of putting it.

"But... unlike yourself... I was made to kill... paid to kill... it was my duty, yes?" I sigh again.

She chews her lip, turns, hoists her scythe up and carries on walking, beckoning me to follow with her spare hand. The footsteps of the others... are indeed some distance ahead, so I oblige, like a good little girl.

"Nobody made to kill. All of us... every one... eventually pays a price for taking life. All matters is how debt approached. If you ignore and marginalise... eventually it catches you. Kills you inside, in return. It is... an easy chasm to fall into."

I blink... why is she suddenly so glib, I wonder?

"But you have been saved by the intentions of another. Do not waste the opportunity. Repent for all those you have sacrificed to be here today. Recognise them, live with them."

She pauses, then turns her head back, and smiles gently.

"Blood is thicker than water. And you are already covered in it. Your family is already massive. So, what else could the world throw at you?"

I am shocked at this idea and stop, shaking slightly.

"I shall proceed. Use the brain you had previously shut off. What do you need, as a person? Fear not the dead. You have been treading with them for some time, no?"

"... yes..." I squeak.

She smiles again, nods, and walks off briskly, leaving me alone in this dark corridor, which echoes with the moans of the void.

Why did I ever follow Nii-sama in the first place?

I was lost.

Not physically.

But I was bereft of function. A blade that no longer had a sheath to return to.

At the time, I thought, perhaps... that I was simply looking for a new wielder. A new master to direct my swings.

I would cut down his foes, and be able to retreat once more into my shell of a mind, content that I was of use, comfortable in my own ignorance, able to sit in my gradually congealing layers of blood.

But instead, the blood was scraped off me, layer by layer. I was forced to face the fact that I am a young girl. And that... all along... I had just been seeking the warmth of the hearth, to sooth my tired, cold body.

"Despite the cold, I don't feel it, yes?" I whisper to myself.

"Will you all... forgive me, yes? I am merely a stupid girl. I have reaped your life, and only offered you further death, and boredom."

Suddenly my heart slows for the first time in days. The faces in my head, they no longer seem so distinct.

I see. There is nothing naturally malicious about Void spirits. They are simply... part of the cycle of things, yes? They also seek love, things they never got in life.

Nii-sama.

He loves me?

I hug myself. That is something I never did. Strange.

"Perhaps... maybe... we can try this new road, together, my family."