Chapter 73: 4-14 Survivor

Rosial, Six Years Old, Third Month of 948

Sitting there, staring at the sleeping face of Stahlia… my sister, and my killer. It was conflicting. My head was all confused, with everything that had happened and the two sets of memories overlapping each other. On one side of me, was the sister I had forgotten. On the other, the sister I had created. That didn’t make much sense and was still confusing, but I had realized that Stali wasn’t real.

Of course, when the person herself was insisting that I had created her, there wasn’t much I could argue about. Though the wish that this was all some kind of game that Stali had come up with, that wasn’t the case. The past three years showed that if the blurry memories were anything to go by. No matter what, I couldn’t seem to remember an instance where anybody actually reacted to Stali other than me.

Then there were the other memories… from the other me. The memories showed me doing all the things that Stali had done. All the things and more. I hurt people. I hurt a lot of people, and I thought it was fun… No wonder Stahlia… No wonder my big sister decided to kill me. Granted, the kind old man insisted that wasn’t true. He swore that my sister had been doing everything that she could to get me back.

But that wasn’t possible. She hadn’t hesitated at all. Even I had hesitated. Not me me, that me always hesitated and made Stali do things. The other me that I could remember. The me that giggled while playing “hide the knife”. That me never hesitated to do her job, and even she had paused when she saw Stahlia. But our sister had cut us down without even batting an eye. It had been completely mechanical. Precise. Calculated to end the imminent threat with the least amount of movement and energy.

…It was beautiful… Her form had been perfect, even the other other me was impressed. Though it made sense that she would be so good, considering who had probably taught her. That was the big sister in the bed at the far side of the room. She was good too; even Mr. Five had not been able to beat her, not completely. According to the nice man, she was like me once, but Stahlia had saved her.

That was the most confusing thing. My mind was all mixed up about Mr. Five. My feelings painted him as a strong figure who looked out for me. The other me, Stali, seemed to think he was a big meanie and had been using us to do a lot of bad things. The other other me didn’t care about him, but she wasn’t around anymore so her opinion shouldn’t matter. Except for the way she gave me her whole life before she left, leaving my head all confused about who was who.

That was why Stali had stuck around. She told me that she could have left now, but she was going to stay because things were going to be hard for a while. Then the maid lady I sort of kind of remembered from before the darkness had coughed up blood. Stali said that we should help her, but one look showed that there was nothing we could do.

Then the nice old man showed up. He stood there looking over everything for a while, like he was talking to someone who wasn’t there. Stali didn’t trust him, she told me to be careful, but he came over slowly. Something about him was comforting in a way that I didn’t understand.

“You must be Rosial… Are you ok?”

“Wentee don’t talk to strangers!” Ok, Stali really didn’t seem to like him.

“Would you let me see to the woman there? She’ll die soon if I don’t.”

Wordlessly stepping away from the maid lady, I watched as the man produced a small crystal bottle. The contents were a really strong get-better-juice if the color was anything to go by. With a grimace on his face, the man poured the contents of the bottle onto the hole in the lady’s stomach. It stopped bleeding after a moment, and her breathing got better, but she wouldn’t be out of danger just yet. The wound was way too deep for only get-better-juice to help with.

The man turned around and faced me. Getting down on his knees, he reached out and put his hands on my shoulder, “Miss Rosial, I need to take this lady back with me… would you like to come along? I promise that you will be safe. You can even see your sister when we get where we are going.”

Just a look at Stali’s face was enough to show what she thought of the offer, but that didn’t matter.

“I can see Stahlia?”

“…Yes, you can see Stahlia.”

“Then, I’ll go.”

Once my mind was made up and I said what I had decided, Stali stopped protesting and started scouting the area around us for threats. The man picked the maid up carefully, making sure not to tear open her cut again. With one long look at Mr. Five, he turned away and began to move out. After a moment, Stali and I followed him.

When I had seen Stahlia again, she was in a terrible state. Frankly, it was impressive that she was even alive. Practically every bone in her body was broken and she was bleeding from every orifice. The fact that her heart was beating at all was a miracle. That had been conflicting. For some reason, the thought of her dying was terrifying to me. Even though memories of our past together were still fuzzy.

There was also anger, after all, Stahlia was the one who had killed me. But then again, I got better so did I really have the right to feel upset? Stali thought I did. A man claiming to be my older sister’s fiancé came in suddenly and interrupted my confusion. He seemed extremely confused and perturbed by the sight of her, constantly muttering to himself about changes and adjustments.

After a little while of staring at her, he abruptly left, only to return with a girl Stahlia’s age. She freaked out when she saw the state of things, but quickly calmed down and shut her eyes. I was really confused since it looked like she was just standing there with her hands pressed on Stahlia’s forehead, but I knew better than to speak out of turn.

A few minutes of tense sweating later, and this girl opened her eyes while shaking her head in a panic.

“I… I can’t reach anyone!”

The fear and distress in her voice was palpable.

“It doesn’t matter who I pray to, no one is responding! Why!? Why won’t they respond when it’s their… Why won't they respond!?”

The man seemed like he was about to say something, when all of a sudden the new girl’s body seized up. Her eyes glassed over and she reached out to Stahlia mechanically. Placing her hand on Stahlia’s brow again, she froze. Then, before my eyes, Stahlia’s body seemed to rewind. All of her wounds closed and even the blood on the sheets flowed backward into her body. The next moment, the new girl collapsed into the arms of the nice man and everyone rushed from the room in a panic.

“Urkh…”

The groan from the maid pulled me back to the present. Stali had gone away somewhere while I was remembering, but I could feel her nearby. Looking at the maid revealed a face filled with distress and pain. The nice man had said that it would take a long time for her to heal, and that he doubted she would fully recover. It was strange that they were helping her if that was the case. If she was really like me, then if she couldn’t do her job anymore she should just be gotten rid of.

No, she should be helped, because that’s the right thing to do.

But a broken tool has no use, fixing it is a waste!

Even if it has no value, just getting rid of someone is mean.  That's why Mr. Five is a bad man!

What about Stahlia? She killed you didn’t she?

That doesn’t matter! I’m a good tool, I got better.

It does matter! If she was that mean then she isn’t any better than Mr. Five!

Mr. Five isn’t mean! He rescued you from the dark place…

But if it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been in the dark place at all, don’t you remember?!

We all remember, that’s the problem!

Why is that a problem? We used to be happy, once Stahlia wakes up, we can be happy again!

If Stahlia wakes up.

You!

Clutching at my hair and rearing back my head, I screamed out my frustrations.

“NO, ALL OF YOU GO AWAY! GO AWAY!”

“…Rosial, what’s wrong!?”

Ignoring the nice man, I fled from the room. The voices wouldn’t stop taunting me. They wouldn’t stop reminding me. They told me things would never be happy again, while some of them argued that things had never been happy in the first place. Running down the hallway, trying to find a place to hide from the voices, a place to escape.

“…Wentee, are you ok?”

Looking up through teary eyes, there was Stali’s face. She looked scared but not like me. Not scared of the voices.

“Wentee? What happened?”

“…The voices were being mean. They told me all the bad stuff that happened…”

Stali’s face contorted into a compassionate gaze. Bending down, she dabbed at my tears.

“There there, everything’s ok. This is why I said I wouldn’t go yet, you know? You need to stay with me, I’ll help you keep the voices away.”

“R-really? You’ll help?”

Stali nodded, “Yes, I’ll do everything I can to help you.”

We sat together for a while, Stali just stroking my hair. Comforting me, “You think you’re ready to go back? That man might be worried about you.”

Her face showed that she still didn’t care very much for the nice man, but she had a point. He was probably looking for me.

*Sniff* “Yea, let’s go back.”

Together, the two of us headed back towards the room where Stahlia and the maid were sleeping. When we got there, the nice man gave us a very stern warning not to go running around like that. He said it wasn’t safe. That was kind of funny; with Stali around, I wasn’t in any danger. Even some of the grown-up tools were duller than me. Though they could hit a lot harder.

It was getting dark, and Stahlia didn’t seem like she was going to wake up anytime soon, so the nice man took me to a place where there was a bed for me. Sleeping wasn’t easy. Every time I closed my eyes, the voices would start to whisper to me. They told me if I went to sleep, I would wake up in the dark place again. That everything was all a dream and that I had never left there in the first place.

“…Stali…”

“What is it, Wentee?”

“Will you sleep with me? The voices won’t stop…”

She didn’t answer, but a moment later the covers rustled, and a warm presence wrapped around me. It felt a lot bigger than it should be. Stali was nowhere near this big. I was the big sister. In a panic, I leaped from my bed and reached blindly for my weapon, only to remember that the nice man had taken it.

What kind of nice man would take away your weapons?

Yea! He wants to get you when you aren’t looking!

Shutupshutupshutup SHUT UP!

Hahaha…

The voices faded away in a burst of creepy laughter. Without the bedsheets, it was very cold. Shivering, I groped around for the warm thing from earlier. Not caring that it wasn’t Stali. It would give me safety, and warmth, and keep the voices away. My hands closed around something soft and fluffy.

A whine carried over the air to my ears. As my eyes adjusted to the dark, a figure of a four-legged creature slowly took shape. It had a large beak and powerful hind legs. The bulk of its body was covered by thick feathers, and a pair of avian eyes glowed in the darkness.

I know this Stawri… Sorting through my foggy memories, to the time before the darkness. A memory once forgotten slowly came back to me, of a Stawri carrying me around on its back. It was smaller than this one and less intimidating, but there was no doubt in my mind that they were the same creature.

“…Stil?”

The Stawri before me emitted a low hum from deep in its throat. In spite of myself, I was happy. Crawling back into the bed, the monster wrapped me up in its feathers. It was warm, soft, and most importantly, quiet. Before long, sleep took me. For the first time since the black space, I was able to dream a happy dream.

★★★★★★

A White Void

The girl slowly faded back to reality, or at least what passed for reality in this realm. Her eyes were still wet with the tears her body had cried while her mind was elsewhere. She sat in silence for some time, glazed over eyes focusing on nothing in particular. The androgynous youth waited patiently for her to recover. Time in this realm obeyed their whim, so they could afford a delay, if that’s what it would take.

After some time had passed and the girl had somewhat recovered, she spoke. Her voice betrayed none of the grief and sadness she had just exhibited. Rather, it was firm. Firm, cold, and resolved.

“How?”

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“How what?”

“Don’t fuck with me. I killed her. I felt my blade pierce her heart… I watched her soul fade. How, then, did she come back?”

“What makes you certain she came back at all?”

The girl fixed the figure with a glare, “Stil wouldn’t comfort just anyone like that. Gustav wouldn’t let just anyone into my room while I was in a coma. So many things. Not the least of which, you made a deal with me. You would show me the lives of those I left behind. You offered to make another, to send me back. Obviously you knew I would decide to go back after learning that I hadn’t failed. So, stop. Fucking. With. ME!”

“…Mind your tongue, I am technically a god. Think about it, you already know enough to figure it out.”

The girl crossed her arms and sat back in her chair, “But I refuse. I’m done dancing for you fucking big shot gods. Either obliterate me for my blasphemy or answer the god damned question!”

“Ha! Well said.” The figure smirked at the girl, her newfound stubbornness clearly entertaining to them, “Alright, I’ll do you one better. Here.” The light being emitted from the phone changed, displaying a series of four menu entries in a style familiar to the girl. She skipped over the first one, as she was already very familiar with it, and read from the second onwards.

“Blessing of Spring: User has received the blessing of the Spring Pantheon. Rate at which Talents under the jurisdiction of this pantheon gain experience is doubled. Grants Immunity to the Water Element. Grants the Effect of the [Rapid Growth] Skill. Grants user access to the Divine Element. Secondary Effect: This Skill is hidden from normal appraisal effects.”

“Blessing of Summer: User has received the blessing of the Summer Pantheon. Rate at which Talents under the jurisdiction of this pantheon gain experience is doubled. Grants Immunity to the Fire Element. Grants the Effect of the [Limit Break] Skill. Grants user access to the Divine Element. Secondary Effect: This Skill is hidden from normal appraisal effects.”

“Blessing of Autumn: User has received the blessing of the Autumn Pantheon. Rate at which Talents under the jurisdiction of this pantheon gain experience is doubled. Grants Immunity to the Rot Element. Grants the effects of [Sleep of Rebirth] Skill. Grants user access to the Divine Element. Secondary Effect: This Skill is hidden from normal Appraisal effects.”

Finishing the last entry, the girl murmured quietly to herself, “…Autumn’s champion is indisposed, was it?”

Her eyes flared up and she glared at the figure while radiating an aura of pure hatred, “Rosial, is the Autumn Champion? [Sleep of Rebirth] was it? What, does it let her treat death as a power nap?”

“Well, not exactly, but you could think of it like that if you would like. Don’t get mad at me, I’m just the messenger, it was my sister that picked your sister for Autumn this round.”

The girl growled, but her anger somewhat cooled. After all, she knew that she needed this entity to send her back. Even after learning her sister was still alive, a part of her was still undecided about whether or not she should get involved again. After all, passing on would free her from all the forces clawing at her life. But if Rosial was to be dragged onto that chessboard, then she would do anything to help.

“…What will it cost me. If you send me back, what will it cost?”

The figure grinned, “Nothing much, only your allegiance.”

“My allegiance? Ah, ‘The only way out is death’ that’s what Mortis said if I remember correctly. So you want me to willingly take the Blessing of Winter? Or one of the other ones? Fine. FINE! Just send me back.”

Crossing her arms, the girl screwed her eyes shut and grit her teeth. After a moment, she opened one eye only to discover she was still in the void of white. The figure sitting across from her was shaking their head in disappointment, “No, you have something wrong. Why would I give you back to my sister? You’ll be much more entertaining in the middle, with a foot in both camps. No, I’ll have you become my Rule Breaker.”

“…What do I have to do?”

“Entertain me, mostly. These endless games get boring after so many repetitions. Stir the pot as best you can."

"That's it? What about those favors?"

"Ah, don't worry about those. As long as you do your best and manage to keep being interesting, then we can call it even."

"Yea… no. I'm not going back with something like that hanging over my head." The girl crossed her arms defiantly, "Getting stuck under a god's thumb is the last thing I plan on doing."

"You know, I'm doing my best to preserve your free will here right? I don't want to spoil things by tying you down. I'm not like my siblings, I don't intervene all that much… Though I must admit, I have been doing so more and more recently, you're welcome, by the way."

"...Just give me a goal, something to pursue. As long as I know what you want from me."

The figure sighed in an over-exaggerated manner, "Hah… Fine, if you want to be controlled so badly, ruin my sibling's plans. Break the rules, break the game. Thwart the gods and the kings as best you can, all the while squirming on the ground like a worm. Always one step, one mistake away from your own destruction."

The girl met their gaze calmly, "Alright. Was that so hard?"

"It takes half the fun out of it if you know what to do. One of the reasons watching you was so fun, was watching you work things out. Whatever, are you ready to go back?"

The girl paused and thought. She had a distinct impression that once she went back, answers would be a lot harder to come by. Then again, she couldn't push her luck too much; this god might not be so accommodating if she asked for too many spoilers.

"...One last question?"

the figure tilted their head in acknowledgment, prompting the girl to ask.

"What was the plan? I don't get it. Being in Sitri's head, she didn't seem to know either. What the hells was Five hoping to accomplish?"

"That question is more dangerous than you realize."

"So? Are you going to answer it or not?"

"I don't think so. I'll tell you who can though, watching you pursue that answer should prove a mild distraction. Next time you meet Five, ask him directly."

The girl's eyes narrowed, "What. I beat him. I died, to seal him away. What do you mean, next time we meet?"

The figure grinned, a glint in their eye, "Spoilers."

In a rage, the girl leaped to her feet, the figure's earlier restraints no longer holding her, "No! Fuck that! Tell me what the hell happened, what was the point!?"

"Sit."

With a shudder that seemed to shake the pseudo air of this realm, the figure's voice crashed into the girl. With a groan, she fell back into her chair. Though she struggled, she found herself unable to resist the command given.

"Sending you back isn't free. My brother would be livid; deals have to be made. He will demand his own pawn back. Does that satisfy you?"

The girl glared at the figure, radiating sheer hatred and animosity, "Fuck you. You talk big about wanting me to have my free will, then you issue a command I can't refuse the moment my actions inconvenience you. You're just like the rest. A hypocritical, bastard of a god."

A long moment of silence hung on the air, and the girl wondered if perhaps she had gone too far.

"Ha! Hahaha, you know what? You're right. Imagine that? Tell you what. How would you like to make a deal? Not one of those Blood Magic contracts you mortals use. The original. A Divine Pact, between you and me."

Finding that she was once again able to move freely, the girl adopted a more comfortable position. She was still upset but now kept a more firm handle on her emotions. It was evident how little her righteous fury would accomplish.

"...Regarding what?"

The figure smiled and held out their hand. After staring at it for a full minute, considering her options, the girl reached out and grasped it with her own.

A synthetic voice resounded throughout the space, from everywhere and nowhere.

"Divine Pact[Oath of the Rule Breaker] Signed by user Stahlia von Ris und zu Drakas"

"Tutorial Complete, Starting Gift Unlocked. Commencing Revival."

The white void faded to black, as the girl lost consciousness.

When the girl's body had fully faded, the figure groaned and cracked their back. Stretching out, they sighed before manifesting a door and heading back into a room where a man and a woman greeted them.

"You sent her back?"

The figure glanced at the woman, "Yea. She's mine now, by contract."

"I suppose I shall need to select a new piece then." She fixed the figure with a stern glare. After a moment, they sighed.

"Here, use this one." Pointing their cellphone at the ever-present globe, the figure caused a beam of light to streak towards the planet below, landing somewhere in the far east.

"...What about the strain on the System?"

"It's fine. I'll do something about it. Now, are you satisfied?"

The woman closed her eyes for a moment, "Hmm, this one isn't very compatible with Winter… It's fine though, I can use him for the Summer slot. I am satisfied."

The man cut into the conversation as the woman bowed out and returned to her previous activities.

"Aye, good fer 'er. What about me? Yer new toy broke mine. That 'sn't fair to play favorites like this."

"Yea yea, cool it. I've already made some adjustments; your pet should be able to break out on his own. Just make sure he stays away from Stahlia, yea?"

The man grunted but seemed satisfied with that. He returned to glaring at the globe, occasionally tapping some part of it or other.

The androgynous figure sighed to themselves. That whole engagement had taken a lot more out of them than they expected. Stahlia had been surprisingly astute in their dealings, normally a mortal would be completely unable to oppose their decree, yet she had resisted it twice.

Working with her was bound to be interesting at the very least, and who knew? She might even be able to beat the game. At the very least, this round was shaping up to be quite spicy indeed.

"I'm going out, adding that extra soul is bound to have damaged things. You two remember to follow the rules well I'm gone, yea?"

There was no response, but the androgynous figure knew that their siblings would play nice now. After all, the older sibling had joined the game. Cheating would not be tolerated.

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A special thanks to Rita152, CypressLB, Loliconhanter, Plus1, and adityakr7531 for Beta Reading and for helping to edit this chapter!

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