Following my acceptance of her declaration, Elise settled back and continued her story.
"As for the engagent, do you rember Prince Jarrod of the Brithlite Kingdom? He’s one of the Three Titan Fists, here at the university. Our families have known each other for a long ti, but because of the curse, his parents forbade him from speaking with . But now that I’m free, he received permission to propose! It’s technically an arranged marriage for political gains between our kingdoms, but..." she giggled, a cute blush darkening her cheeks. "It’s sothing I’ve dread about for a long ti. When he finally confessed, I was so shocked I couldn’t reply!"
"That’s wonderful," I murmured, bathed in the radiance of her smile. For the briefest mont, the dark haze hovering over dissipated, parted by the pure joy of her smile.
"You know," she said, "There’s one more thing I’m grateful to you for, but it might be hard to explain. See, I think...I think I died."
I nodded expectantly, which seed to catch her off guard. That was the final mont I rembered clearly, the mont where, perhaps, I broke.
Regaining her composure, Elise cleared her throat and continued. "I knew I was going to die when the demon cast its spell. I rember praying, pleading for soone to answer and help, but nothing happened."
"It’s not so simple to move the gods," I said. After all, they were busy playing their gas. What cared they for a simple mortal on a faraway planet?
"But then everything went dark, and I heard a voice. A woman appeared, radiating more power and glory than I can describe. I was scared at first, but when she looked at , her eyes were just like yours, holding all the stars of the night sky. At least, that’s what they looked like to ," Elise said, scratching her cheek. "But anyway, the woman claid to be a goddess, and that she heard my prayer. The next part’s a little blurry, but she taught a fifth-circle spell. At fourth level, I was too weak to cast it, so she explained a thod I could use to get more power."
I gasped, the tip of my tail flicking back and forth. "She told you to burn your soul? But that would kill you!"
Shaking her head, Elise looked in the eye, a faint smile playing across her lips. "She said soone would help . So, once I returned to my body, I used the technique and cast the spell." She shivered, the skin around her eyes growing tight. "It hurt more than anything I’ve experienced, like a thousand hot knives stabbing over and over."
My hands tightened as she recalled her experience. That pain was sothing I had beco intimately familiar with over the past few weeks. Even now, my soul was fractured and broken, so far gone I doubted it would ever recover. Elise twirled a strand of golden hair around her finger, her eyes glistening in the fading sunlight. The price was steep, almost impossibly so, but looking at her shining visage, I knew I would make the sa choice again. I would return to the dungeon and suffer again if it ant preserving her smile.
Elise wiped a tear from her eye, sniffing gently. : But a voice called out to , and a single star appeared in the darkness. It called to , beckoning back to the light. The pain faded, and the next thing I knew, I was in the infirmary with the other injured students. Xiviyah, it all feels like a dream now, and at first, I thought it was the goddess. But now, I’m almost certain it was you."
Had it been anyone else, I would have nodded and left it there. But faced with her earnestness, I couldn’t lie. My tail rustled, curling up so I could stroke its length.
"It was the demon," I whispered, my voice low and heavy. "He offered to save you if I gave my soul to him." She waited, wide-eyed, for to gather my courage. My grip on my tail tightened, and I took a few shaky breaths. "I don’t rember it that well, but he used a spell to draw your soul back together."
"Wait, you’re serious? You actually listened to it?" She asked, gasping.
"It was the only way," I muttered.
"But how could you! Even if I were to die, my soul is worth far less than yours! If you had actually done that, then the demon would have been able to use your power to...to..." Her expression paled, and she fell against the couch. She lay there, mouth opening and closing, until she suddenly straightened, looking at desperately. "No, that can’t be true! Otherwise, the demon would still be controlling you! After all, everyone knows that it’s impossible to gain freedom once you sell yourself to a demon."
"Oh. It is?" I mumbled, "Sohow, I regained control of myself, but it was too late. The spell was already in progress, so the most I could do was adjust the runes and prevent as much collateral damage as possible. Judging from what you told , it seems I was unsuccessful. Because of , the entire rising generation of mages has been crippled beyond repair."
"Don’t say that," she said, eyes flashing. "You can’t bla yourself for what happened. And besides, as the days go by, there are more and more that regain their power, like I did. Even the City Lord estimates almost half the students will be able to return within a few months."
That was supposed to be good news? What would happen to the various powers of their world if they lost half of their future officers and leaders? I shuddered, recalling one of my earliest visions, where the Fire Demon stood among the burned wreckage of a village. How many would die now, because of ?
"Look, one thing for sure," Elise said, "I already told you I’d be your friend. Even if you sohow shoulder all the bla for the horrors of the attack, that isn’t going to change. The goddess sent you to save , which gives a debt I’ll never forget."
Fate. There could be no other. But why would she decide to step in and save Elise? Even in my darkest hours, I was lucky to hear her voice, which rarely offered anything more than simple encouragent. At the shrine, she implored I return to the city. But if I hadn’t gone, none of this would happened. I wouldn’t have destroyed the city or crippled the future leaders of the world. I wouldn’t have been chained in the dungeon, slowly being consud by the pain and darkness. Was I simply a sacrificial pawn for Fate, that she might save another piece that caught her fancy?
"No, stop," Elise said, her knuckles whitening as she clenched her fists. "I don’t know what you’re thinking, but every ti you look like that, I know you’re hurting yourself. Stop, please. I can’t bear it anymore."
I flinched as a single tear trickled down her cheek. Elise glared at for a mont longer, her eyes glistening with...pity? Love? A foreign sensation clawed within my heart, attacking the comfortable darkness I hid behind.
I shifted, looking at the now empty bowl of soup. "Do you rember the spell?"
Elise’s brow furrowed, her expression showing she was anything but satisfied, but she let it go. "I do. It’s hard to explain, as there’s no chant. It just cos instinctively to ."
"So chantless," I murmured."That’s impressive." Chantless was the default spell casting I used, yet was almost unheard of amongst the mages of Enusia. Even Selena, my teacher, was unable to do it.
Elise brightened, smiling widely at the complint. "I wanted to show it to you! You can use your ability to figure out the runes and-"
"I can’t, my soul is...broken." A weight dropped in my stomach as she deflated, sagging in disappointnt. Feeling disheartened for so reason, I whispered, "I’m sorry."
She shook her head vigorously. "No, it’s alright. I didn’t realize the spell was still affecting you."
"It’s not that," I admitted. "When the demon tried to destroy the city, it forced to use the Infernal Mana. My soul shattered before its weight, nearly killing in the process. That was the reason I could heal myself or escape. Right now, I can’t summon enough mana to cast a first-circle spell."
: You an, like what happened to ? You’ve been enduring it this long?" Elise gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "No wonder you...no, it’s okay. Even if you can’t now, I’ll wait until you can. The goddess didn’t give it a na, so I decided to call the spell "Liberate," because that was how I felt when you broke my curse. From what the librarians and professors can tell , it’s the first-ever spell capable of breaking curses. I only wish I could create a chant for it, so everyone can have it, but that sort of thing hasn’t happened in thousands of years."
"Wait for ? But I...okay."
Perhaps her energy was simply contagious, but I found myself nodding. Liberate. I could think of no spell more fitting for her. Perhaps, given ti I didn’t have, I liked to think she’d be the one to free as well, to teach how to smile. But I knew my future, and it was quickly drawing to a close. It had taken a demon lord’s avatar to avert it this ti, but there would be no running from an angel.
I sat back, finding my tail swishing for so reason. Elise smiled, and I turned away, embarrassed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movent out the window. Far on the ground below, a horse streaked into the inner campus. Upon arriving before the damaged City Lord’s mansion, the rider ran inside, ignoring the guards who attempted to stop him. With my sharp eyesight, I could make out of a tattered scroll tucked under his arm.
"Elise," I said, feeling a strange stirring in my stomach. "Do you promise? You won’t forget?"
"Do you really need to ask?" She asked, eyes sparkling. But her amusent faded the instant I nodded.
Without hesitating, Elise reached forward, laying her hand atop mine. "In that case, allow to be clear. No matter what happens, you can rely on for anything. Even if the heavens fall, I’ll continue to be your friend. After all," she said, flashing a warm smile, "You’re my hero."
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