When I opened my eyes, I found myself in an unknown, dark space. The beginning and end were indiscernible, and I couldn't even tell where I was standing. It was a place so engulfed in darkness, as if I had drifted into the void beyond the void, where nothing existed and no sound could be heard. I was lost in this pitch-black confusion.
"Where is this...?" I mutter to myself, my voice dissipating into the void, only to be met with an eerie silence that even felt cold. Trying to find an answer was futile in this engulfing blackness. The surroundings were filled with such darkness that it felt like I was moving with my eyes closed. No matter how far I walked or reached out, there was nothing to touch.
"Certainly, I was..." Reluctantly, I revisit my last memory, naturally recalling fragmented scenes. 'My beloved... please become my strength.' Yes, I remember being embraced by Luceria, then losing my sight...
And when I opened my eyes - or at least I thought I did - all I saw was this void. Was this an unknown space brought about by Luceria? "Ah... Ahh..." As I pondered, suddenly I heard the pained moans of a girl... "Marika?!"
Turning around, I was confronted with a nightmare-like scene: Marika was lying powerless on the ground, wailing. "I hate this... please help... Harold..." Strangely, she murmured my name, her eyes tightly shut as if struggling against something.
"Marika!! Snap out of it!" I tried to shake her to consciousness, but she was unresponsive. Whoosh! "Marika?!" Then, suddenly, she began to be absorbed into the darkness and started to disappear.
"Ugh...!" I desperately tried to hold onto her, resisting the darkness... "Marika!!" But I ultimately lost her to the shadows. "No..."
I lamented, feeling the pain of having lost her to an unknown place. Just then... "Welcome, to the world within..." A light-hearted voice addressed me. "?!" A fleeting suspicion of who the voice belonged to crossed my mind. Could it be... the one behind me is...
"Yes, it's me." As if reading my thoughts, the entity responds to my silent contemplation.
"Uh?!" I turn my head towards the voice, only to find an unfamiliar woman standing alone.
"This abstract place, separate from the outside world and its flow of time, is a manifestation of my inner self, steeped in darkness." Long white hair, amethyst-colored eyes, and a dress exuding an eerie charm.
Upon closer inspection, her appearance didn’t seem entirely unknown to me... resembling Arsia, yet distinctly different, radiating a sinister aura of darkness.
"4..." My curiosity about the identity of the entity before me was short-lived as I quickly realized who she was. This woman was Luceria, her true form.
"Is this the first time I'm showing my true self? But it’s only right to let my partner see my face, isn’t it..." She seems to read my mood, confirming my suspicions with her words and looks at me, rambling nonsensically, provoking a response from me.
"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not your partner... And release Marika now!"
However, she lightly laughs off my words, her face beginning to show a mix of emotions.
"But you are my partner. I'm certain that by possessing you, I can gain infinite power."
Why does she insist on calling me her partner?
"Still, I refuse. I have no intention of becoming your partner!"
And then...
"I understand your reaction. After all, I almost killed you on the night of destruction... Why does she keep talking as if we had a past connection?
"Let me apologize again, I'm truly sorry..." The question that had been bothering me.
"You might not believe it, but my affection for you is genuine." She sincerely seeks forgiveness, looking pitiful as she practically proposes to me. "Initially, you and I met for the first time today, didn't we? Why do you keep talking as if we're old acquaintances?" I ask, voicing the doubts that keep surfacing.
"What?" The ancient deity looks at me in disbelief.
"What are you talking about...?" She cocks her head in confusion.
"I mean exactly that. Weren't you and I meeting for the first time today? And you mentioned knowing something about Erina and me, how did you know about any connection between Erina and me?"
I speak in a slightly sharp tone, but Luceria seems utterly baffled by my words.
"Just a moment..." She becomes increasingly confused and lost in thought...
"You don't remember the past encounter?" She utters a statement that makes absolutely no sense to me.
"What are you talking about? We've met before, haven't we? Just recently, on the night of destruction... That night, I threatened you, and you struck me with lightning magic, right?"
She rattles off a series of events I've never heard of, throwing me into confusion.
"And then you used a sealing stone to sacrifice your own life force to trap me... You really don't remember any of that?"
Memories I've never heard of before.
Her words are too detailed for mere fabrication, and her genuinely confused expression shifts the atmosphere from suspicion to bewilderment.
The night of destruction, she and I met?
What is she talking about?
Indeed, I was present on that worst of nights, but I have no memory of encountering an ancient deity, only heretics - '
Zap!
As I try to recall any residual memories, a familiar current swiftly passes through my mind.
"??!!"
I then start to hear voices that sound like hallucinations.
"Harold!"
"Harold?!"
"Brother...!"
"My knight..."
Strange yet nostalgic... memories of vital importance that I had forgotten seem to flash by in an instant. "Ugh?!" I suddenly experience a headache.
"My head hurts?!" The pain feels familiar, and I grasp my head in agony.
It's another strange phenomenon... Fragmented and vague memories begin to seep into my consciousness, but they feel so real that I can't help but cry out in distress.
But then...
"Huh...?"
Seeing my anguish, Luceria suddenly focuses intently, and a realization seems to dawn on her, making her eyes widen in surprise.
"Ah... could that be it? You're harboring twisted memories..."
However, her momentary perplexity quickly turns to disbelief and resignation. She covers her eyes, letting out a hollow laugh.
Twisted memories...?
"Ugh!!" The term strikes a nerve, intensifying my headache.
Why has this been happening to me lately? The headache is so severe it feels like my head will split open...!
"Relax." Suddenly, Luceria gently strokes my head, murmuring softly.
"...?" Her unexpected words miraculously alleviate my pain.
"Harold..." She looks up at me with a gaze filled with affection and sympathy.
Thinking about it, despite our adversarial relationship, she's always been inexplicably friendly towards me...
Realizing this objectively, even I find it odd how my hostility towards her seems to dissipate.
"You're inside my domain now, so I can glimpse into your mind, albeit faintly."
Acknowledging my reduced hostility, Luceria starts to speak, her expression turning pitiful.
What does she want...?
"What do you mean...?" Though still skeptical, I ask her to clarify.
Without any convoluted explanation, she gets straight to the point.
"Your memories have been manipulated by someone, someone who's using you for their own purposes... It's like a curse etched into your being, a brand. I can feel it."
Her shocking revelation leaves me dumbfounded.
Her words seem to deny my entire life's experience, suggesting I've been living a false life, a claim as severe as an accusation. But...
"Tell me more."
Why don't I feel like opposing her words? Even though my entire journey seems to be invalidated, I find myself wanting to believe that what she's saying is true. It's a strangely miraculous feeling.
"Memories have been manipulated..."
"Just a moment, excuse me."
She places her hand on my forehead and falls deep into thought.
"Ah... um..."
Her face goes through a series of emotions, sometimes gently touching my skin, sometimes frowning. What is she seeing in her closed-off vision that makes her expressions so varied?
Soon, after seemingly seeing everything inside me, she slowly opens her eyes and looks at me with pity.
"Indeed... Your memories have been maliciously edited by someone. They've robbed you of your original life and are using you solely for their own benefit."
That I'm being used...
"Really..?"
We're supposed to be enemies, sworn to take each other's lives...
Why do I feel like I can trust her?
"I can help you."
Something about her words makes me want to nod in agreement.
All these persistent doubts, the headaches that come with certain words or in moments of crisis, and the unfamiliar memories that emerge – I've been curious about what they all mean.
"So then..."
"But there's a condition."
A condition...?
"You need to accept that you are my partner, to accept and love me."
She might be able to help me somehow, but her offer is something I cannot accept.
"No... I can't do that."
"What...?!"
My immediate and definitive response seems to disappoint her. Her smile fades away, replaced by a look of sadness.
"That's unfortunate..."
I say to Luceria,
"However... if you agree to a few conditions of mine, then I will become the partner you so desire."
I propose a deal that cannot be reversed.