Chapter 224: This is For Victoria

Chapter 224: This is For Victoria

In all honesty, she didnt think goading him into proving her wrong would actually work. Despite getting confirmation that in the network of underground tunnels and caves beneath the village housed more than ten thousand soldiers, Tori couldnt help but be a bit giddy.

Staying behind was worth it. This answered several questions, the most important at the moment being where those soldiers that passed through the smugglers tunnel in the northeastern mountains went.

And while she didnt know if this was all of them, losing ten thousand five-hundred plus soldiers would be a massive blow. She almost wished she could call her family and tell them she was carrying on a long, proud family tradition of crushing Soleils enemies.

Literally.

She held Adriens eyes and smiled as she channeled all the energy shed gathered through the terracrystal hidden beneath her palm, and released it.

He mustve known that she was doing something as his eyes narrowed and his shoulders tensed. Adriens right hand lowered from where it was shielding his face from the wind whipping around the belltower, outside the drawn lines of her safety circle.

She had forgotten that with mems ability to write charms directly on people and allow her to sense the heartbeats of living beings, its energy was also affiliated with air. It couldnt purify the air, at least not without writing on an air crystal, but it could still manipulate energy to increase pressure and build up movement.

Every time Adrien moved closer to her, the air current outside her safety circle quickened to the point of pushing him back. The closer he got, the stronger the air current. She had written it into the Old Sulfae on the floor as a deterrent for arrows while she was standing by the window.

Shed written something similar on both Gideon and Fabian, and it looked like hers was working particularly well.

Sometimes my genius...its terrifying.

Tori kept her eyes on Adrien, but the majority of her concentration was on the waves of energy she wove into the ground and spread through the earth beneath the village like the roots of a tree. She wound it through the crevices and cracks dotting the tunnels, around the airways leading to the caves, and saturated whatever hard packed dirt the terracrystal energy could get to.

Are you causing this wind? Adrien shouted as he reached into his inner coat.

Technically, you are, Tori said as she continued to feed energy into the ground. The terracrystal energy lines grew thinner the further away from her they were, and she didnt think she could get the full expanse of the cave system, but there werent many heartbeats she could sense along the edges.

The majority of Adriens underground army were in caves beneath the village and immediately outside of it, beneath the surrounding abandoned farmland.

She let out a low, shaky breath. This meant that she would be at the epicenter and it was likely that the old, dilapidated church where she and Adrien were inside of wouldnt survive what would happen next.

Tori didnt know if her safety circle would work as well as she hoped. And she knew full well that once she set off the final wave of energy, it would drain her and send her into crystal shock. Crystal shock was her best-case scenario.

Her eyes narrowed a bit.

Adrien Rosiek was still in front of her, trying to get closer as he gripped a dagger in his hand that he pulled from within his coat. His teeth were clenched as he fought against the wind that circled around her barrier like he was trying to get through a hurricane.

If there wasnt such a high possibility that her precautions could fail and shed die once she completed her objective, she wouldve laughed at his struggle.

She stood up and Adrien stopped fighting against the wind. He watched her rise to her feet and glowered. What are you afraid of, Countess? Cant fight me?

Tori held her arms out and smirked as she twirled the hilt of her dagger between her fingers from behind the safety of her circle. Come and get me, Rosiek.

He lunged forward, but as soon as his feet left the ground, he was swept up by the wind and slammed into the wall. Toris eyes widened. That was an unexpected surprise. The wind was as strong as shed dared hope.

Adrien pounded a fist into the floor as he landed with a heavy thud and lifted his head. His red hair fell over his face, no longer neatly combed back, but unruly and slapping his forehead. He lunged towards her again, but the same wind shoved him back.

He yelled into the wind as he leaned forward, glaring at her as his clothes whipped around him. Come out here and fight me!

Tori snorted. Tch...no.

You have to come out sometime, Countess! No matter how strong you are, your body cant control this much energy! Youll be drained and helpless-

Then before Im drained, I have to finish you off, dont I? Tori said. She shrugged and raised her brows. That wont be hard. It was never very difficult to beat you.

Fury filled his reddened face and he crouched low, preparing to try to duck under the wind.

Sweat was building on her brow and she could feel her body starting to tire. She was exerting too much in too short a period of time, and her body had reached its limits.

Tori knelt down to steady herself and took a deep breath. She collected all the energy she could, and gripped the terracrystal and mem together in one hand. She released the final burst of energy without a word.

She pressed the two crystals on the floor and shut her eyes. She could feel a familiar heat sucked from her body, through her hand and through the crystals.

She didnt know if she was just dizzy or if the earthquake she was trying to make was working.

Adriens voice shouted above the wind howling around her and she lifted her head. She watched him stumble, trying to regain his footing as dust and pieces of wood fell from the ceiling. Adrien turned towards one of the windows and his face seemed to drain of all color.

No...whats going on....whats going on!

His shouting was lost as Tori turned her attention to the nearest window. The ground outside was cracking. In the distance, large pieces of earth were splitting open and even larger pieces suddenly sunk.

There was screaming coming from all sides and the heartbeats that once surrounded her began to disappear. Large swaths of heartbeats stopped beating at once and her chest tightened. Despite knowing what they were there for, and that it was either them or her, a part of Tori couldnt help but feel uncomfortable taking so many lives at once.

She swayed in place with no time to dwell on her mixed emotions as her balance started to falter and her body grew cold.

Adrien was yelling and she remembered that she couldnt risk him getting out alive, either. She gripped her dagger and focused on him.

This man kidnapped her. This man wanted to kill her.

This man killed Victoria. He targeted her in the original game. Because of his influence, she was exploited, manipulated, and killed for whatever scheme Adrien had planned for at least eight years.

Wood was cracking and a beam fell to her right. Adrien turned around at the sound and she took her chance.

Tori rushed towards him, shooting out of her safety circle. She moved her free hand and grabbed his elbow, raising it and pinning it back against the wall as she rammed into him at full force. She pressed her weight against his arm to keep him from moving his weapon.

And then she stabbed him in the stomach.

Tori lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. One of the most intimate things a person could do was stab another. One could feel their heart beat, their breath, and gaze into their eyes.

Fuck you. This is for Victoria.

With her body pressed against his and his hot blood coating her hand, she twisted the dagger inside of him, moving it from side to side as if trying to slice whatever organ crossed the blades path.

His wide eyes stared back at her with shock and hatred. She could feel his rapid heartbeat against her as she pulled out the slippery dagger with a trembling hand, and stabbed him again beneath his ribs. He shuddered; his face contorted with pain as he wheezed.

And that, she hissed out as she shook. Is for me.

He curled his lips inward and clenched his jaw as he seemed to gather his strength to push her back. She was weak with the last boost of strength from the mem fading. She knew it took more than two stabs in the abdomen to kill a man instantly, but it would slow him down significantly. She squeezed the dagger after moving as violently as she could while it was inside him and pulled it out, earning Adrien's throaty gasp.

Open distance. She needed to get back into her safety circle. The wind didnt affect her the way it did him and it should last a bit longer, even after she collapsed. If she died, it wasnt going to be by Adrien. Not in this life.

Tori stumbled back into her safety circle. Her legs gave way before she stepped in it completely and she fell backwards. Her body slammed against the wooden floor with her feet still hanging outside the circle. Gritting her teeth, Tori crawled into the center of the barrier of the sacred geometry and pulled her feet inside.

Her dagger, still hot with blood, was on the floor next to her.

Her breathing was heavy, and her vision blurred. She could make out Adrien flinging himself against her barrier only to have the wind violently reject him and toss him to the side, spraying blood everywhere.

The noise went quiet as she curled up, shivering, on her side. She gathered her crystals against her and shoveled them down her shirt.

Another wooden beam fell and she watched in a daze as it slammed into Adrien, who was struggling against the wind, and crushed his body just a few paces from her. His head was turned in her direction and his cold eyes met hers as they laid there.

The bell tower began to move. It was tilting to one side, and she could feel the structure give way beneath her.

Tori closed her eyes.

Adrien was right about one thing: when she used up all her energy, she was helpless.

She felt a gentle breeze around her and then nothing.

She hoped that the air pocket shed surrounded herself with would hold. The sacred geometry would only last as long as that particular piece of floor she wrote it on stayed together, but in case it fell apart, which was likely considering how old that church was, Tori had written a charm on her left arm to keep her in the center of a strong air current.

It was untested and she didnt know if it would work to keep debris from falling on and crushing her, or to cushion her fall when the belltower collapsed. She was sure the tower would fall considering when she triggered an earthquake to collapse the caves beneath the village, she was right on top of a large one, and without a suitable foundation, the ground had to go somewhere.

Huh.... Tori pursed her lips. Then...do you think either of us will wake up in our bodies?

Victoria shook her head, disappointed. I dont know. Tori frowned and Victoria squeezed her again. But, if we dont, please continue what youre doing. She had a firm, determined expression. But dont work so much. Its bad for your health. You need to relax more. Let Piers feed us. I enjoyed that.

She felt as if she were being scolded by a little sister and Tori laughed. Just keep doing what Im doing, huh? You dont mind that I want to leave your family and travel?

Victoria shook her head once more. If anything, you should travel and eat more. That Ewan is onto something. As long as everyone is safe, you can do whatever you want. Relief filled her face. All I wanted was for my family and friends to be alive and well.

Toris smile faltered. You know what I just did...your body...our body...may not be....

Victoria nodded and lowered her eyes. I know...and I know why you did it. Dying doesnt scare me, Tori. I dont care what happens to me as long as everyone else is safe.

Tori stroked Victorias head affectionately. You really are a good girl. Im sorry if I killed us.

Victoria giggled once more. I am satisfied if this is my ending. Even if we died to save that idiot Gideon, our death wont be a cause of animosity. You did our duty as a marquis daughter willingly. Theyll be furious at him for his stupidity, but it wont be enough to turn our family against the empire. Not like my first death was.

Tori nodded. She closed her eyes for a moment and hugged the soul of a character that shouldve only existed in a game. Victoria was warm against her and comfortable. Tori relaxed. She knit her brows together.

This has been a really weird trip.... Victoria didnt answer and Tori opened her eyes. There was no one in front of her and she frowned. Victoria? She turned around and the white space around her began to grow dark. Victori-?

Ahhh... It was as if air filled her lungs and she was forced to take a deep breath. Her body trembled as if every muscle was shocked awake and twitching to revive itself. Her eyes opened and the darkness that met her made her tense.

Above her, she saw a blurry reflection of a long white bed.

Her eyes narrowed. She wasnt on a bed. Her hand moved against her, feeling weighed and it took conscious effort to move them. The polished white crystal was warm and pulsing with steady energy from several different sources that seemed to wrap around her.

She shut her eyes and took several long, deep breaths. She tried to ground and found that while she could do so, the energy she used to be able to access had become limited. Her lips pulled into a frown.

The last time she remembered such a weak ability was when she first started learning about crystals. She couldnt control the energy moving through her body, let alone regulate the different ones.

Her eyes shut tight as she tried to identify the crystals the energy was being sourced from, and her heart sank when she couldnt identify them all.

Am I still in Soleil? When she opened her eyes earlier, the ceiling wasnt familiar. It wasnt a hospital ceiling or anything in her original world that she could identify, nor was it the four-poster bed shed woken in when she first arrived four years prior.

It wasnt her tent in the encampment or what she'd expect from someones home in Soleil. For a moment, her chest clenched. What if she wasnt in Soleil at all, but wasnt back in her original world either?

What if while her soul was drifting, someone else snatched her up and shoved her into another body? What if she was in another game or book or whatever terrible media that forced her to face ridiculous challenges and even more ridiculous characters?

Her body sank with a wave of exhaustion. She was so tired. She didnt want to start all over or deal with a brand new set of drama.

God, if thats the case, you shouldve just let me die in peace.

As she laid there, willing for the world to just let her go, she felt a familiar vibration at the top of her head, and she recognized it immediately. Alexander purred like that.

Her eyes opened and she slowly turned her head to the side. A large, dark fluff brushed against her face and her heart skipped a beat.

Ah.... Her throat was dry, and she winced, shutting her eyes once more. Her eyes watered as the mere attempt at speaking made her throat ache. She took a deep breath and moved her jaw open and close.

Nyaow? The familiar call of her cat was followed by the firm nudge against her head, as if to reassure her that she was there and she was safe.

Tori felt a pressure between her eyes as she leaned towards Alexanders head and tried to nudge him back. His purring didnt stop and Tori laid there, taking solace in existing in the same world as her cat.

If Alexander was there, then so were the others. If Alexander was there, she survived.

With that thought settling in her heart, she opened her eyes once more.

The air was warm and humid, but not to the same extent as Geyser Cliffs. It was night time. Shed been asleep for some time, if that was the case.

As for the reflection of white above her, it was against glass. She could make out the metal beams above her, like a greenhouse.

Like a greenhouse.... She inhaled a sharp breath and ran her hands at her side over the material beneath her again. The glowing crystal was selenite. A massive selenite slab. Im on the island!

She tilted her head back and let the relief course through her. She was on Anahata Island, in her delta. Her eyes brimmed with tears as her breathing trembled. If she was on Anahata Island, then she was safe.

She was alive.

What about the crystal shock? Her eyes flew open once more and she willed her legs to move. A shaking gasp escaped her lips as her legs slid along the warm crystal. She could move her arms, her legs, her hands, fingers, all the way to her toes. With each movement, she braced herself for any pain, but there was neither a hot flash of sharp pain nor the dull throb of aching.

Maybe her air bubble of safety worked? Or they couldve just healed her body when they found her. Either way, she didnt feel much pain aside from the typical tightness and sores of laying in one place for too long. Those would fade with movement.

It took her some effort and her body was sluggish when responding, but she could move. She turned her head to try to take a look around. The selenite had a glow, but it was very dim. The rest of the greenhouse was dark and through the glass walls, the lights from the crystal masters quarters were dim or off.

No one was in the room with her except Alexander, but there was a small round table with a neat pile of papers and a cot with a neatly folded blanket and pillow at one end. Someone was there.

She raised her hand and touched her throat. The kitchen was right behind the greenhouse. Since she couldnt cry out and didnt want to make noise in general, as long as she could move herself, she could get her own water.

Nyaow?

Hmmm.... Tori twisted her body as Alexander stood up. He remained close to her, nudging her head as she forced her legs towards the side of the table and then slid them off. Every movement was slow and if she felt tired, Tori stopped where she was.

She took deep breaths and clung to the table as her bare feet touched the ground. The long, pale gray night dress she wore was familiar. Ilyana had embroidered outlines of Alexander on the hems for her.

Tori let out a low breath and straightened her legs. So far, this was better than the last time she got crystal shock. Perhaps it was because she used the mem crystal.

She gasped and her hand moved up to her chest, feeling around on top of her night dress fabric. A new chain was around her neck and her crystal was hanging just above her heart.

Tori closed her eyes. She still had it. She tried to ground, but at most, she could feel a warmth from it. No heartbeats.

Whatever. If I have to work back up to that, I will. At least Im alive.

She shuffled alongside the table, only daring to lift her hand off the edge after every step. Alexander jumped off the selenite slab and circled her once before walking ahead of her and leading her towards the entrance. The wooden door was left open.

Now that she thought about it, it was dead silent in the greenhouse. Usually, she could hear the waves lapping against the sides of the island. Did they put a silence barrier around it?

She held out her arms to try to balance herself as she took one shaky, awkward step forward after another. She dragged her feet towards the open doorway and leaned outside.

The gentle sea breeze filled her senses, and she could hear the crashing of waves not far away. It was familiar and comforting. Tori closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the salty air.

Nyaow! Alexander jumped forward, his tail up in the air. He looked back at her and walked back and forth, encouraging her to follow.

Tori smiled. Dont worry, Im coming. She stepped out of the greenhouse and on to the covered pathway that led to the kitchen. As she shuffled closer, should see the light coming from the entrance. It was always on, as sometimes the masters on the island stayed up unnecessarily late.

She could smell a light scent in the air and as she reached the entrance, she heard sizzling. Was someone cooking?

Nyaow! Alexander darted into the kitchen, leaving her out in the hall. Tori put her hand against the wall and braced herself so she could move a little faster to catch up. Nyaow!

I will feed you later. This food is for Tori. She stopped before she turned into the kitchen. Her hand clawed into the wall as her eyes watered at the sound of a deep and gentle voice that sounded tight and hoarse. He didnt sound very well. When she wakes up, shell be hungry.

Tori shut her eyes and took a deep breath, readying herself. She took slow, careful steps around the corner and stopped just beyond the entrance to the kitchen.

Across the kitchen, a tall figure was over a carnelian stove. There was a basket of eggs on the counter next to him and on the other side of the stove were a small pile of broken egg shells. His arm moved as he stirred a pan on the cooking surface.

Alexander rubbed against his legs. Nyaow! He pressed his head against Piers knee with his demanding cry.

No, this is for Tori. Piers scratchy voice sounded painful. What if she wakes up today? Shell be hungry. This is her favorite breakfast burrito, see? His voice shook and she could hear the desperation in it, trying to convince himself that everything was fine. That she was fine. Im not burning it any more. She will like it.

Her lips trembled as she stood in place. Her face was hot and the tears she couldnt hold back were hotter. She grabbed onto the counter nearest her to steady herself and missed, knocking over some metal cups on to the floor.

Piers whirled around and she caught his clean-shaven face. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was a bit messy, and despite his effort to appear put together, there were bags under his violet eyes.

I.... Her voice was rough and almost a croak, but she forced herself to speak. Ill like whatever you make.

The burrito was forgotten.