81 Dark Foreboding

"Everyone alright? Anybody hurt?"

The voice, though I cannot see the face of the person speaking and in spite of the winds distorting it, it's a voice I recognize. It's the princess. Of course, of the three of us, Merida is the first one to realize that.

"Your Highness! Are you alright!?"

"That I am! What about you? Anyone hurt!?"

I know it's the princess, or at least, she sounds like the princess. However, her tone is different. It's a tone of impatience I've never heard from the princess before. I know that I don't really know the princess all that well, but this, this kind of feels like a different person is talking.

"No, I do not think so!"

"Good, because I'm not stopping till we reach the forest! I'm not sure why, but that Remus, he's trouble!"

'That Remus', I don't think I've ever heard the princess refer her uncle like that before either. Even when she's calling him out behind his back, she'd say thing along the lines of 'that man' or something vague. No matter what, I think that the princess still thinks of him as a relative and elder to some extent. However, now it sounds like she's speaking of him like he's beneath her. It's odd, very odd, at least I think so. But, that's not important right now. Just now, she mentioned 'the forest', she must mean the World Devourer. Is it safe there? In which case, that must mean that Cecilia, Aurelius, and Six are still fine, right? I hope so. I very much hope so.

***

"Something wrong, Cecilia?"

"I was just wondering if leaving Aurelius alone back there was a good idea."

"He said that he'll be fine, didn't he? Besides, he has Timothy and Fredericka, as well as the Faefolks and Beastkins with him. If anything does happen, he'll take care of it."

"I can only hope so."

It has been a day and a half since we left the capital. As of just now, we have just crossed the great river and entered into Dragonbrood territory, and though there should still be some ways till we will be able to catch up to our targets, I can't help but feel a little nervous. The enemy, after all, has six Champions on their side, a full party. Meanwhile, we only have four on our side, five if we count the Bestial Champion, with one [Guardian Angel], Michaela, for support. We might just be- no, we're definitely at a disadvantage, and the thought of it makes me anxious, even if we have a plan.

"Nervous, Cecilia?"

I smile at her, putting up a front.

"I rather pick the fights I know I can win."

"You say that, but I heard from the Beastkins that you've pulled some crazy stunts before."

"That's... Well, what can I say? Things were desperate."

She's talking about that time when I hurled myself right into the middle of the forest and fought solo, isn't she? Well, what else was I suppose to do? Aurelius was shot, our plan fell completely apart, and there's a sniper taking aim. I did what I thought was best at the moment. That's all.

"Hey, Cecilia, what do you think of this world?"

Suddenly, Corona changed the topic. I guess there's not much else to say about that incident anyway and I don't mind small talk, so it's fine.

"It'd be fine if it weren't for all this mess, I guess. Frankly, I can't wait to go home."

"That's a given I suppose, but that wasn't what I was asking. Don't you think this world is a little weird?"

"I think it's more than a little weird, but it being somewhat like Elysium Online helps a bit."

"That's exactly what I'm talking about. Why is it so much like Elysium Online?"

"Apparently, both this world and ours are created by the same being, so I guess similarities are bound to happen, right?"

"Really? Where did you hear that from?"

Oh, that's right, Aurelius didn't say anything to her about that, did he? Well, I don't think it needs to be a secret and he didn't specifically tell us to keep it as such either. I guess it's fine if I let her know.

"I heard it from Aurelius. He said that the One Being, that's what he called the thing that Zero ended up as by the way, it created many worlds, Elgardia and ours included."

"Hmm, is that so... Intriguing... Still, some things don't add up. Elgardia was Elysium Online in our world, but that being said, Elysium Online was still a game. Yet, we were drawn in from Elysium Online, weren't we? Even though it was just a game, just graphics and animation layered over programming. You can't be drawn into another world through that, can you, logically speaking."

"I wouldn't know. I mean, magic itself makes no sense to us in the first place. So, well, there's really no point thinking about it."

"You say that, but try thinking about it a bit more. Sure, magic exists in this world, but not in ours, right? So how was it able to work in our world, in a video game no less?"

"Like I said, I have no clue. Even if you tell me to think about it more, my mind wouldn't know where to even begin. In fact, my head's starting to hurt. Why are you starting this kind of conversation with me anyways?"

"Well, Oro already has enough on his plate as it is. If I bring up even more questions for him, I'll only end up confusing him. And of course, the muscle-head down here can't even begin to grasp what I'm saying so it'll only be an awkward conversation with him."

My eyes turn down towards the large Dragonbrood that Corona is riding on, wondering if he's offended by the comment.

Yeah, I can't tell. I can't tell what they're thinking from their reptilian face.

"Well, it's not like I'm good with this either. I'd say this is more of Aurelius' territory and maybe Toto. I'm more instinctual, I think."

"Hmm... Alright then, let's talk about something that requires more intuition."

"Such as?"

"Well, for starters, do you think that maybe Aurelius is hiding something, even from you and Six?"

For a moment, I forgot to breathe. I'm surprised that Corona has picked up on it, that Aurelius doesn't really trust them... No, I suppose trust if too strong a word. It's more that he doesn't have as much confidence in them? Or maybe it's better to say that he's more reserved because he doesn't know them all that well and couldn't predict their reactions?

"Now, now, don't make that face, Cecilia. I get it. There's just something that's harder to say to someone you don't know that well. I'm sure if it's important, he'll let us know."

"He will, that much is for sure."

"But, even then, no matter how close you are, people will still keep secrets, and I'm feeling that Aurelius might be hiding something. Maybe that's just me though, so I kind of want to confirm that with you."

Here I am wondering why she even struck up a conversation with me in the first place. I'm guessing that this must be what she really wanted to talk about.

"Aurelius, he... He's the kind of guy who always leaves something unsaid. That's my impression of him, anyways. It's like he's not used to opening up. Still, if it's important, he'll tell us, I trust that."

"You mean if HE decides that it is important, that is."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that there is a secret to this world, both this world and ours. That's what I'm feeling. Between being summoned via a video game and the H.U.D. so ever-present in front of our sights, it all feels so artificial. It's like none of this is even real. Don't you feel it? That even though you try to tell yourself that this is real, in the back of your head, you still can't shake your recognition of this being part of the game. The fact that this world is indeed similar to Elysium Online doesn't help either."

"That's..."

I don't know how to respond. She's not wrong about how I feel about this world, but that doesn't really mean anything, does it? It just shows that we share similar experiences, that we're both having a hard time shaking off what is essentially a habit we've developed over time. Yet, I can't find it in myself to completely deny her either. This world has never felt real, this body has never felt like 'me'. It's like I'm trapped in a dream the moment I got here. If this is a dream, I hope I wake up soon. In fact, there's nothing I would like more right now.

***

"Aren't you glad you sent me out there?"

Standing before me all smug and full of self-importance is the 'princess', or more accurately speaking, the one who's making use of the princess' body, Nine. With him are Merida, a healer apparently named Sophia, and finally, Toto. After realizing that due to the [Corruption], no one I can send will be able to communicate with Toto and the rest, I decided to send the 'princess' instead as she had not completely come under the Devourer Woods' [Corruption].

Then, by a measure of good fortune, she came upon a [Meteor] falling from the sky while en route to rescue Toto. Thanks to that, she was able to locate Toto and the others in the nick of time and got them out of there by the skin of their teeth.

"It certainly worked out for the better, I suppose."

"Still, while things went well this time, it looks like we've got ourselves a new problem."

"Remus, right? Was he always so dangerous?"

"No. Never. He had always been a spoilt nobleman from as far I know, and I know a lot. Besides, from what I saw and what I heard from the others, the powers he displayed weren't exactly normal."

"Could he have gotten those powers from the Grand Keeper?"

"I don't think so. Seven had barely enough power to spare for herself, much less give it to someone else."

"Are you trying to tell me that there's someone other than you lurking in the background?"

"From looking at the circumstances, I'd say it's likely."

"Tch, just when I thought things were unraveling too. Now we have more nuisances running around in the shadows."

"On the bright side, it goes to show how timely our new alliance is, don't you think?"

"Right, both you and Seven will want to deal with this before the next cycle, wouldn't you?"

"Neither of us likes unknown factors after all."

I sigh. Thinking about the world of trouble I'll have ahead of me, sighing is the only thing I can do. Well, at least Toto is back with us again.

"For now, we should prepare for Remus' assault. We don't know when he'll decide to strike, but considering the Beastkins' situation, I doubt he wants to wait too long. We're going to need a plan. Tell Toto and the rest that I'm sorry and I understand that they're tired, but I want to hear the details of their battle with Remus."

***