“Are you going to be fine young lady?”, the lady with a cart asked as she noticed Alisa is trembling.
“I’ll be fine”, Alisa smiled back before firing a shot.
“Is that all you got?”, Elizalina grinned as she dodged it by an inch then fixed her hair up her ear. “My turn!”, she laughed as she rushed to try and cut down Alisa.
The poor girl can’t do anything but defend herself with the bow. She tried firing some shots but most of it was fired without any aim and just flew towards the walls or the ground.
“I just need to hold on until someone finds us”, she thought determined to protect the lady with all she got.
But determination is not enough to keep her and the lady safe. They would really need a miracle if there is one. Despite the successful blocks of Eliza’s sword, maintaining soul reflection for a long time would exhaust its wielder, especially when it is repeatedly battered by a blade.
Another slash and Alisa’s bow broke, making way for Eliza’s victory.
“Finally it broke!”, Eliza celebrated then punched Alisa on the face causing her nose to bleed and if that’s not enough the princess again caught her by her long black hair.
“You never learn, you should have cut this long hair of yours when you had the chance”, she said cackling. “Hey Alisa… Alisa…”, she excitedly said, “Do you know why pigs love to swim on the mud?”.
“I don’t know and I don’t care”
“Yeah I figured you don’t know, care to find the answer for me?”, she said grinning again as she looked Alisa deep in the eyes, before letting her go then kicked her causing Alisa to get a glimpse of what mud tastes like”.
“Fuck you!”, Alisa spitting the mud from her mouth.
“Yeah yeah, did you find the answer for me by the way?”, Eliza asked while the other girl just glared at her. “You did not?”, let’s do it again shall we?”.
She was about to kick her again but Alisa shot an arrow before she could, almost hitting her in the center of her head.
“How dare you!”, she squealed looking properly angry. She was about to really stabbed her now when someone kicked her away and she slipped into the mud.
Nicolas tended to Alisa as soon as he could and helped her stood.
“For fucks sake Nicolas!, Is this how you will always treat me for every interaction. I can stomach you pushing me away but damn a kick hurts!”, Eliza exclaimed as she too stood up.
“I almost left, but thank goodness I came back!”, Nicolas yelled back at her. In his mind was what the little girl told her as they almost left for the library.

“Aren’t you going to help her?”, Mae asked him as he turned around and walked.
“I need to get you to safety first?”, Nicolas said trying desperately to calm himself down despite screaming from the inside from his very soul.
“Isn’t she someone precious to you?, like my grandpa to me, I can tell by your expression”, Mae told him.
Nicolas could not reply to what the girl said. “Children are really something”, he thought. “Yeah but I need to take you to safety first”.
“No”, she said as she lets go.
“What are you doing?, we need to go”
“Not unless you help her, or you might regret it in the future”, the girl uttered as tears materialized from her eyes, though she herself could not understand why. “I will hide and you should help her”.
“Do you promise to be a good girl, never go too far, and hide?”
“Yes”, she nodded.
“Thank you”, Nicolas smiled at her, stood up, and then ran.
“Thank you Mae”, he thought. “I would never again leave those in need”, he exclaimed to Eliza again.
“Where are you when I needed you then”, Eliza whispered to herself, looking down at her reflection on the puddle crying as the rain gave ripples to it although it was indistinguishable from the rain.
“Give up already and tell us where Nero is Eliza!”, Nicolas mandated her.
“As if I’d tell you!”, she yelled charging in again, but Nicolas just blocked it with a shield.
“Wow, so you’ve grown accustomed to your abilities!”, Eliza recoiled her punch upon seeing the shield while at the same time not feeling the heavy force from it.
“Uh huh, as if I’d fall for the same trick twice”, Nicolas said.
“Great…”, Eliza was about to laughed again when she felt a burning feeling on her right arm.
“What the hell!”, she exclaimed checking what might be the cause and it led her to Alisa. Weak but wielding her bow again.
“Alisa!, I would really kill you!”, she said backing away. “If you can’t play fair then I won’t too… Fine! Daniel!”, she called and the two came out of nowhere as the surrounding was illuminated by a flash of lightning.
“Three versus two, where did the Versian dignity go?”, Nicolas teased trying to insult them.
“Coming from you? The audacity!”, she exclaimed and the three of them swoop for the two.
The lady at the back is even more confused to what was happening but she knows that with her frail body she would not be able to do anything but become a dead weight, so she hid quietly at the side of her cart.
The rain kept pouring never refusing to run dry and the thunder speaks itself close. Lightings are also restless, hitting every tall tree in the vicinity.
Nicolas was pinned to the wall with his sword, undecided whether to point it at Fine or Daniel as the two tries to capture him. On the muddy lawn Alisa and Elizalina was the one who sparred. Though it was a one sided match between a blade and a bow
“You don’t have to do this!”, Nicolas exclaimed to the two upon noticing Alisa is having a hard time.
“Master would be delighted to finally have you captured”, the two replied.
“Stop it already, I’m giving you a chance!”, Nicolas exclaimed determined to talk with the two, but their only reply were slashes and laughter.
“If that’s your resolve then, enjoy your next life!”, Nicolas exclaimed changing into a scythe and with the sudden flashed of lighting he struck them. No harm done to the body but they fell to the wet pavement.
“Enough with this Eliza!”, he said placing a shield between the two girls.
“Why can’t you just sit still and let me do my job!, you both pisses me off!”, the princess replied.
“Why do you even want to kill Alisa and the Lady, they did nothing to you!”
“Why do you care?”, Eliza said gritting his teeth.
“Why did you sell your soul to Nero!”
“Why, why, why, I’m tired of your questions!”, the princess said stamping her feet to the mud out of irritation. “You want to know why?… Because both of you ruined me, you made me hate myself, you ruined my life!”.
“We did nothing wrong to you!”, Alisa exclaimed.
“Shut up you should-have-been-dead-but-turned-out-alive daughter of a peasant! If only you did not die, if only you just stayed alive that time, Nicolas would have treated you as normal. He will not think about you every single second of the fucking day!...”, Eliza yelled stomping much harder causing the mud to splatter everywhere.
“If only you had stayed alive that time and be his peasant friend then he should have had time to think about me! Look at me! But none of that happened. It should have been better if he accepted your death and moved on, but no, he needed to think about you and disregard me, the person who’s by his side for all those years!”
“Enough Eliza!, that was not her fault, It’s mine!, because no matter what I did I can’t look back at you the way you look at me. But you too had always been close to my heart. You were like a sister to me! Stand down I’m begging you, I don’t want you to end up like your brothers”
“Shut up!, shut up!, just shut up and die!”, Eliza could not take it anymore, she was crying, but at the same time laughing. Nicolas saw himself at her that night ten years ago, pained, angry, sad, and frustrated.
He just looked back at Alisa and to his surprise she is looking right back at him with the subliminal message from her eyes, “Let’s help her”.
“Die!”, the princess squealed and charged in again. Alisa fired an arrow at her foot while Nicolas recalled his soul and tackled Eliza down.
“I don’t know if I could do this, but if I really have Nero’s soul then I could at least try to lift the contract”, Nicolas exclaimed as the two of them grappled and rolled to the mud until he caught her on a head lock.
Eliza tried to break free but Nicolas’s tight grip wouldn’t let her. Nicolas closed his eyes.
“What are you doing?”, Eliza cried.
Her feet desperately kicking for nothing as she felt something uncomfortable, “Stop!, you’re hurting me. Let me go!”, she added before she squealed in pain..
Nicolas paid no attention to her until at last her eyes went wide and she had a seizure. The princess glowed as a dark miasma drooled out her body.
“Did it work?”, Alisa whispered taking the unconscious Elizalina from Nicolas.
“I think it did”, Nicolas whispered back before standing back up with a slight relief, “And I think we should go”.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”, a voice echoed from the entrance alley way before a pained squeal was heard. “Would you leave this girl?, you have always been heartless brother, but not to this point yet!”.
“Let Mae go Marcus!”, Nicolas begged suddenly being on guard. Unlike him, Marcus did not bother containing the force of his soul. He just let it spread through the air and cause distress to anyone or anything that can sense it.
Alisa on the other hand could not believe her eyes seeing them both at the same time. There is only little difference on how they really look.
“Oh wait, is that the chatter box your carrying?”, he asked taking a step forward while forcefully pulling the girl to take a much closer look. The little girl just cried in pain.
“So what if she is, would you hand over the girl to us in exchange?”, Alisa said pulling Eliza away.
“I don’t care about her anymore. She already did her part as a diversion, but…”, Marcus said smiling at the little girl. “If you want to save this girl, you’d have to make me!”, he exclaimed with a grin.
“Why are you doing this Marcus!, I know you know what really is going on, and hurting others was not like you”
“What’s wrong with that?, you too had always had the kind eyes and soft expression on your face but you are merciless from all of our lives…”, he yelled while pointing to his own face.
“And aren’t you tired brother? All those lives being persecuted, forced, hunted down and killed with no option and even explain?”, He added.
Behind the two forces was the Lady with the cart. She wanted to hide but the sound of the little girl’s cries made her want to stand up and help. She decided to act on her own as Marcus blabbed under the pouring rain.
Alisa noticed her as they both met eye to eye while raising a block of wood from her cart. She shook her head a bit to let her know that what she was about to do was a bad idea but the lady is persistent.
“Answer me brother! Don’t you just want to see this world and everything burn for what they did to us?”, Marcus laughed while also trying to convince Nicolas to be on his side.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about Marcus, he just corrupted you. You just happen to have a sharp look in your eyes but this is not you, this was never you!”
“Trust me when I say I know what I am doing brother. I am fed up with all this shit. Be the winner is good or evil, I don’t care. I just want this hell loop we kept living to end!”, Marcus screamed.
The lady was already on his back and prepared to smash him with her make shift weapon, “Let her go!”, she yelled as she swung.
Alisa also yelled “No” at the same time.
Marcus pushed the little girl away making way to her freedom, ducked, turned around, changed his soul’s reflection, and slashed the lady with his scythe.
“Marcus!”, Nicolas yelled as the lady dropped dead like a log. Her eyes wide open as she plunged to the ground. The mud soiled her face as she lied lifeless and cold like the breeze from the storm.
Alisa on the other hand was fast on her feet, placed Eliza to the side, and ran to grab the girl to safety.
“Stupid old hag!, you made me dropped my other prey! This was supposed to be a Harvest Festival you know. I should not miss a single one!”, Marcus angrily said while kicking the woman’s body before sucking her soul to his.
“Alisa”, Nicolas whispered as he glared at Marcus. “Sorry, but do you think you can carry Elizalina while also making sure Mae would be safe?”.
“I don’t think so but I could try”, Alisa replied as she carried the unconscious girl.
On normal circumstances she won’t be able to, but adrenaline is pouring heavily on her veins from all that’s happening.
“Then get them out of here. If the library is safe, take them there, if not, anywhere would do just not in the town”
“How about you?”.
“I can manage”, he screamed.
Alisa had never seen him this angry before, not even from that time when he tried taking her life. She knows he’s not just mad, he’s furious.
“I’ll catch up to you in a little bit. I just need to have a chat with my dear brother”, he exclaimed full of sarcasm.