9/29 - east region - afternoon

On another grey, cloudy day, the dead environment haunts us still. An intense battle broke out while we were making our way through this region. Fire Wraiths must have anticipated our approach. Nunnalé and I are responsible for helping anyone who’s hurt. The battle is being won through our stronger members, but if they had more in numbers, or at least had a strong ally, they would pose much more frightening.

Well, I shouldn’t be thinking about that, I should be healing and getting everyone back to proper health.

So far, it seems like everyone is alright, a good thing.

“Master Richard, refrain from closing into the battlefield!”

“I will. Nunnalé, see if you can help out in the field.”

“Understood!”

She rushes into the battle. Whatever our connection is, I can feel it expanding yet thinning as she widens the distance between us. I can still feel a majority of my Source stay with me.

“They’re retreating to a village in the east, more are coming from the west!”

A couple of cars arrive at the scene. Trouble is going to barrel in on that village if we let it be. I'll go since I can heal anyone that gets hurt.

“Zell, cover for me!”

“Richard, where…”

His voice quickly fades into white noise. I dash off to the village nearby. It takes me about 2-3 minutes of running with my Source to make it. Hopping with one leg isn’t as easy as I make it seem. When I got here, Marie had just arrived.

“Richard,” she shouts. “...what are you doing here? Fall–"

A scream coming from the village interrupts her. We speed into the village. The screams of the village people heighten my instincts. Fire spreads across the village, engulfing the barely developed houses of wood. Black smoke blankets the sky, and dead bodies litter the streets in the wake of the bandits.

“Mommy,” the voice of a child calls for her mother, practically begging for her. “...mommy, wake up! We have to run, please, mommy!” Desperation, panic, and fear are packed into her words, creating a pit in my stomach that sucks in my whole being. “Mommy!”

Bandits are drawing closer to the little girl! Right as I take my first steps to save her, Marie jets off, her spear aimed for one of the bandits.

“You animals!” Unbridled rage, burning hotter than I’ve ever felt before! It’s growing, wilder, without any sign of stopping!

“Another one, ki–”

His neck is torn open before he could finish. Marie tears apart the other bandits in her way, slaughtering them with vicious anger, unrelenting in her attack. The style that's meant to inflict minor wounds on her opponents is gone. Savage, crude attacks that are meant to rip and tear become her new way of fighting, moving through the battlefield with precise footing.

Blood taints everything around her and the little girl. Her anger only grows worse, unbearable to the point I can’t even breathe properly.

“W-w-who-whoa! Please, don’t kill me! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry! I-I-I-I was forced to do this shit! P-p-p-p…”

Marie slams her spear on him. He screams out when it carved a piece of him. She slams it again, and again, and again, and again. Each hit makes a revolting wet sound that echoes across the village. Then, the putrid noise stops. She just hangs there, looking down on the body… She trudges toward the girl with her spear dragging along the ground, blood follows behind it.

“Are you…okay?"

From the mere sight of her, the child yells her lungs out! Absolute terror stabs at my brain. It’s like my brain is being split open! The girl runs into the forest, echoing her frightened voice. I chase after her, unsure of what could be in there. Passing Marie by, I… No, I don't want to see, I can't see. If I do, I don't know if I'll be able to face her.

Anti-bandit camp - afternoon

Our short skirmish ended with our side reigning victorious. Everyone did their best to repel the enemy, and I could not have asked for anything else. However, sister has been behaving rather oddly. Ever since the battle, she has been secluding herself from the others. Perhaps it is of no issue but I have a grasp on my sister’s character, while she is somewhat reserved with people she is not overly familiar with, she usually joins in our after-battle celebrations.

“Sister…Marie?” Standing alone, next to a battered tree, acting as a record for the battle that tore this land apart. Is she shivering? “...Are you…”

“Leave.”

Aloof, coupled with a foreboding sense of dread that seems to suffocate her environment. This, I never thought I would see this again! But she would never revert to her previous state, not without cause!

“Marie, if something is amiss, then confide in me. What happened today? Tell me.”

“Leave me.”

“I shalln’t, no matter how much you insist!”

The strength of my resolve is unbridled, unwavering in protecting my sister. However, the next moment proves that to not be the case. Marie violently turns to me, almost forcing her body to obey her, thrashing around every which way. We share an instance of eye contact. All of my flesh is torn apart as I’m skewered with dozens of swords, slicing, ripping, dissecting me like an insect crawling, scrambling to escape the confines of this place!

“Le…ave!”

My body., my body isn’t being torn anymore!? But…how did she…?

“Marie, what…?”

She smacks my hand away. “No, no, no, no! Don’t come near me!”

She runs deeper into the forest, slamming into each tree she passes by.

“Marie, wai–”

“Stay away!”

A dark presence stops me from pursuing, nailing my feet to the ground. Marie’s footsteps grow distant as I tremble in fear, unnerved by this dark, almost inhuman presence, mocking me for my cowardice from the deeper part of the forest. Damnit, what am I doing, go! Your sister needs you, go to her…! Damnit, why now, why will I not move!?

“Damnit!”

Why am I so pathetic?

…

Where am I? Everything is so damn dark. Fog is filling my head... I remember doing something, telling brother something, but I can't remember...

I keep hearing them… Voices, all of them screaming out, crying out for something to end. Each of them called my name, scratching at my eardrums. They’re writhing in agony, desperate for me to stop, but what? I don’t know what to stop? What am I doing wrong?

There’s a person, in the distance. I rush to meet them. The closer I get, the more of them I see. Each step becomes louder, creating a wet sound that only gets deeper the closer I get… Why is it so wet in…here? Blood, blood all over, as if it were a body of water, stretching miles on end. Its crimson visage shines in this dark world, it’s somewhat alluring. Bodies float inside this vast ocean, each of their faces in clear detail. The ones in front of me stab the bodies, a cruel method to check if someone is dead. The people they’re stabbing, Proxy, Richard, Nunnalé, Elizabeth, and brother… All of them dead…

“They must die.”

Of course they have to, grotesque monsters like them can’t be allowed to live. I’ll kill them, each and every last one of them!

Reading my intentions with absolute certainty, they charge at me, each holding a spear. I take up arms with this sword on my waist, the blade reflects the blood below us. A dance of death began as I was the first to swing my blade. One by one, they all fall, dropping into the blood without saying anything, not even a whisper. Their attacks are predictable, rigid in nature as well as plain. This repetition goes on until I’ve killed the last one in sight.

I did it, they’re all dead… No, this isn’t good enough. I need to keep going, keep killing them until they’re all wiped from the face of this land.

“Then allow me to lend you my power, together, we can make your wish come true.”

You’re right, my power alone isn’t going to cut it, I need more if I want to slay these monsters!

“Excellent…”

More of them appear, their faces scrawled out, coming off as less human they should be. That’s perfect, it’ll make this a lot easier.

…

Red liquid drips from the blade that was used to sever life and deliver death. It shines brightly under the moonlight, making it all the more alluring to people like us. The deceased lie around, rangled, carved, and mangled beyond repair. They decorate the surrounding area in an ambiance of death. Each slash she delivered was brutal, brutalizing them without a shred of mercy. All they could have done was scamper as she slaughtered each of them in a frenzy. This woman’s bloodlust is amazingly amplified by her desire to kill these “Fire Wraiths” that are dead before my feet. However, this is a bit more complex than just simple hatred. Such hatred leads to bloodlust, bloodlust leads to insanity, and insanity leads to a stronger power.

Yes, she is a perfect fit for me, but she's not there…yet. Fortune smiles upon me, though, for that is an easy trifle to rectify.

“I think it’s time to break in this new body.”

I walk, staring down the abyss that is the woods. Where normal men dare not tread, I head for that darkness that welcomes people like us into its inner depths.

Anti-bandit army campsite - evening

Alexander woke us in the middle of the night, telling us that Marie suddenly disappeared. Everyone’s preparing to go searching in a 2-mile radius of the land. Bandits might be out there, so we’re going to use a buddy system to lower the odds of being ambushed. Nunnalé is all the support I need, we’ll try to cover more land. As for Proxy, we said nothing to him, he’s almost done recovering, so the last thing we need him to do is overexert himself.

“Master Richard, please look here.” I approach Nunnalé, who’s pointing at the ground. There’s a footprint here/ “...There is Source on the ground, in this exact spot.”

“Who does it belong to?”

No sense in asking if she’s sure, besides, the sooner we figure this out, the better we’ll all be.

“Judging from the patter, it belongs to the Source-user we fought yesterday.”

“But he’s dead.”

“Of course, I confirmed it. However, this pattern matches up with the boy’s Source.”

Did he find some way to skirt death? No, if that were the case, he would’ve come after us by now…? Unless.

“Nunnalé, you know the way to the mine we discovered those bodies, right?”

“Indeed, however, I do not see how this is relevant?”

Something doesn’t add up to me. If that Source-user entered the mine, then wouldn’t he have left a trail of entry? Nunnalé would have told me. What purpose did he have to kill those people in the mine? It can’t be for anything like vengeance since he killed the workers too. And there are his words, they held nothing but malice, his presence isn’t all that welcoming to begin with. No, something doesn’t make sense here.

“...If you wish to go back there, it will have to wait till later.” Ovan comes up to us, holding a lantern. “You seem lost in thought.”

“I just have a feeling that something’s missing from all this, and that mine is the only thing that can answer it.”

“If that is so, then I’ll take you. Locating Marie comes first, so keep any irrelevant thoughts to the side.”

He’s right, figuring out who that Source-user is comes later.

“Nunnalé, let’s–”

My spine freezes over. A murderous presence pierces my body, knawing at my psyche like it’s made out of jelly.

“Master, steel yourself!”

She’s right, she’s right! Calm, I have to calm down before I lose myself in this endless spiral of terror!

“Thank you, Nunnalé. Ovan, are you okay?”

“This presence is unruly, otherwise, I am fine.”

The fact he’s even speaking is more than impressive. My resilience compared to his is a joke.

“Master Richard, stay behind me.”

The dead leaves break apart below their feet, becoming louder as they approach us. Unease builds, biting at my nerves with every step they take, the deadly pressure only ramps up in magnitude as he approaches.

“How quaint, you come to greet me once again, Doll and her master.” No doubt, it’s the same person, but their voice, It can’t be… “...It took longer than the boy but I’m slowly breaking in her body. She was strong enough to ward me off for a little, however, I am stronger than her feeble soul can handle.” No, this is not Marie! Her words, her voice is the same, but her words are repugnant, chock-full of malevolence that could fill a pool.

“Who are you!? What have you done to Marie?”

“Nothing much, I simply made her my new vessel, and what a wonderful vessel she is. Care for a demonstration?”

Just now, he was venting excitement!

“Ovan, Nunnalé, get back!”

A black blur bolts across the darkness, aiming for me. Nunnalé wipes out the darkness with a single swipe of her sword.

“Ah, I suppose that alone will not do, but it’s a start.”

The hell was that!? I couldn’t make it out but I know something raced across the forest to end my life.

Ovan pulls me out the way. Nunnalé is pushed out of the forest and into the well-lit camp. We rush out of the forest, knowing full well that death is the only thing waiting for us out here. Everyone is spectating the scene, gathering around us.

Marie enters the light, illuminating the blood sticking to her clothes, and the sword coated in the same substance reflects the flames coming from the campfire.

Alexander runs out of the bus, I assume to check what’s happening. He goes pale at the sight of her. “Marie, where did you go!? Is that your blood? Are you hurt?”

I can’t let him go up to her!

“Stay away, that isn’t Marie!”

I pour all the Source I can into my leg. I push Alexander to the ground, making it by the skin of my teeth. She had launched an attack that went overhead, severing the trees behind in half.

“Nice reaction.”

“Marie, what are you doing!?”

“That’s not Marie.”

“But it is!”

“Are you sure!?”

Horror strikes Alexander, realizing that the person before him isn’t his sister.

Burning with rage, he stands, bearing his sword at her. “Where is my sister!?”

“This is your sister… Though, she’s taken a leave of absents.”

Behind him, Zeal and Zell are about to attack. The two find their mark, only for Marie to summon something between them. It immediately lunges at Zeal, pinning him against a tree. It’s a wolf! Zeal quickly rescues him, dispelling it with one hit.

“A Source-user? I see. How lucky am I?”

It sounds excited by the idea more so than inconvenienced.

“Marie, what is your excuse for this?”

Zeal is deadly serious, and the deadly part isn’t an over-exaggeration.

“This isn’t Marie. Something is possessing her! Everyone, stay away from her!”

“No good, I need you all to remain in place.”

Nunnalé, who had disappeared suddenly reappears, is descending from the sky. Shadows fly around Marie, meeting Nunnalé in the sky. She’s knocked out of the air. Her body crashes against the ground, going thud at the moment of contact.

“How boorish, you truly believe you can beat me with that stick?”

Nunnalé bounces back to her feet, putting up her guard without any delay.“Stick?”

“Allow me to show you.”

The enemy speeds off, slamming their sword against Nunnalé’s. The two exchange blows at inhuman speeds, even so, I can tell that Nunnalé is struggling. The fact she’s siphoning more of my Source is evidence of that.

"There!"

No way, there’s just no way… Nunnalé's sword, a thin blade that took anything on, was sliced in half. Nunnalé's chest is sliced open, blood gushes, pouring onto the ground.

"A stick is no good against a swordsman."

Not again, not again!

"Nunnalé!"

The enemy readies itself to intercept me. I'll enhance my arm to block! What the hell!? My Source keeps being pulled away from me! It’s a tug-of-war between me and…

"What a laugh, you two are so out of sync!" Out of sync? Come to think of it, I did say it was like a tug-of-war. Maybe that’s it, we can’t decide who uses it, so we’re just bickering over who gets to use it… We really are out of sync. "Die."

Death is but a hair’s breadth away, and all I can do is stare at the weapon that’s going to split my head apart. Then, as if my luck kicked in, a needle stops the enemy from killing me. It rips the needle out of Marie’s arm.

"We are sorry for the late entrance." Doctor Crow steps out from the shadows of the forest, carrying a Richard, move the patient out of the way.”

Nunnalé! I pick her up to take her away from the battle.

"Thought I was gonna miss for a second. Good thing she wasn't even paying attention," Chip, sitting in a tree with his bow gauntlet, states.

"Chip, the next shot."

"Coming right up, doc."

He fires another, hitting Zeal instead. Zeal collapses, convulsing, keeping himself from crying out in pain as he belts out on the ground. He comes to a sudden stop…

"Thanks for that, doc."

Standing up, Zeal smashes in the tree with his bare hand. A hole, 3 meters wide, is left in its wake. Our enemy sends a shadow monster after him, towering over him with the appearance of a demonic bear. The monster strikes him, bringing down the force of a bulldozer onto him.

"That's it?" with bravado, he mocks the Source-user's attack. Zeal kicks in the shadow, destroying it without a hint of effort. "...Don't know if you're off your rocker or what, but if that's the case, then I guess I gotta rough you up, Marie!"

The being possessing her sneers at the threat, delighted from what I can tell. It rapidly spins the blade in Marie’s hand. "Interesting, just interesting. I hope you all will not disappoint me!"