Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sounds of sharpened blades colliding and cries of agony rang throughout the battlefield. Dust from the ground flew up into the air in puffs as soldiers from Graf Dumas’s army and Schwarzwind mercenaries clashed. Viola found herself engaged in battle with enemy soldiers, teeth clenched as she sent her orb, Quattor Orbis, barreling at them and taking them out before they could even touch her. Though Viola knew how to effectively use a sword, this was easily her most preferred form of fighting, because it allowed her to keep all her enemies at a distance. Quattor Orbis felt like an extension of herself, and in a way, it felt much more trustworthy than any sword could ever be. Her style of fighting felt incomplete though, without her partner, Z.W.E.I., fighting along by her side. Like a key to its lock, their styles completed each other. As long as the two of them were together, no matter who it was they were fighting against, they would be safe. After countless years of traveling together, evading assassins, protecting each other, and watching each other's backs, Viola believed that with everything in her.

But of course, that wasn’t to say that Viola was lacking when it came to fighting on her own. She had spent quite a bit of time traveling alone and it didn’t take long to learn how to fight when one’s life was in constant danger like hers was. Her fighting style was unconventional. If not for the glowing glass orb flying around her in all directions, one might think Viola was simply dancing. Her movements were graceful and fluid. Her twirls would end with her arm extended in the direction of her opponent, and her orb would know to fly in that direction and knock the enemy back. However, there were moments when her back was turned that enemies would be able to get in close. Viola was far from defenseless in those situations though. She would simply turn around and slash with the sharpened metal claws adorning her right hand. Viola was quite agile and flexible, which was very helpful when it came to close combat and evading hits from the enemy.

Viola had lost track of how long they had been at battle for, and she was growing tired. She had sustained some damage, with a few gashes and wounds scattered throughout her skin. Her clothes were dirtied with blood stains. She refused to let up though, and persisted in her efforts. Viola typically didn’t fight on the battlefield, her main talents laid in strategizing for upcoming battles. With her ability to see glimpses into the future, the insight she could provide on upcoming battles made her a very valued asset to Schwarzwind. However this battle was different and she insisted that she participated directly. The man who had tried countless times to assassinate her and Z.W.E.I, Graf Dumas, was going to be participating too. And Viola was already well aware of what the outcome of him being present was. Today was the day he was going to die. And Viola wanted to be there to see it for herself. Until then, she was simply going to keep her attention on the present enemy, and focus on taking out as many of Graf Dumas’s soldiers as she could on her own.

A man in armor stood before her with a sword in his hand and Viola in turn stood ready to strike. That was until the man’s attention moved elsewhere. The man stood staring at something behind her with an expression of disbelief as he lowered his sword. Suddenly Viola became aware that the sound of metal hitting metal had ceased and instead there was low, inaudible chattering among the crowd of people, all of whom were staring in the same direction. Viola’s arms lowered and she turned around to see what everyone was looking at. Her magenta eyes widened somewhat as she stared in awe at the sight of Z.W.E.I. standing at the edge of the ledge he had been fighting Dumas on, and the armored Dumas, Nightmare, plummeting to his doom. He’d done it, Z.W.E.I. had finally killed the man who had wanted them dead for so long. A small smile slowly grew on Viola’s face and she felt her shoulders relax. There was indistinct chatter all around her from the enemy soldiers, who were all shocked that their leader had fallen, but all Viola felt was relief, as though a cumbersome weight had been lifted off of her back. She and Z.W.E.I. were finally free from Graf Dumas’s assassination attempts. They didn’t have to hide behind Schwarzwind anymore. This had been a day that Viola had longed for ever since she had learned of who Graf Dumas was. Why were her eyes watering now? Weren’t tears meant to be shed in times of sadness?

Viola’s gaze moved back up to Z.W.E.I. once Nightmare was out of sight. She found him staring back at her and their eyes locked. Though he was far away, Z.W.E.I.’s gaze filled Viola with a sense of warmth no one else could ever seem to make her feel. He stood bruised and bloodied, and he looked tired, and yet he still looked down at her with that same gentle smile she knew he only ever looked at her with, but now it was mixed with something else. There was triumph in his smile. And in turn it made Viola feel triumphant as well. They had finally conquered their greatest enemy, together. All Viola could do was smile back.

The moment was short lived though. A blade pierced him from behind, cutting all the way through his abdomen and then was removed, leaving a large gash cutting all the way through him. Viola’s smile faded instead into a look of horror. Out from behind him stepped out that wretched girl, Pyrrha, however there was a lot that was different now about her. One of her arms had transformed into a large claw, with the flesh around it warped and twisted. And her aura had changed drastically. Viola still saw a red moon when she looked at the girl but it was different now. The moon was now cracked and bleeding. Her eyes darted back to Z.W.E.I. and she felt tears beginning to fall down her face. She felt compelled to run to him but she was stuck where she was standing, frozen in shock as she watched the person who meant the most to her in the world staggering and gasping in pain. An extremely long moment passed before he finally staggered over the edge, and he fell down into the chasm below.

“No!! Zwei!!” Viola cried out finally. She darted toward the ledge on her end of the chasm and her glowing orb followed after her. As she ran, she noted what she could only describe to be strange black holes opening up at random points throughout space, all reeking of the same energy soul edge and soul calibur emitted. That didn’t matter to her though, there were more pressing things at hand. She stopped at the edge and began to look around frantically to see if she could find him from where she stood. However Viola quickly realized that the ground beneath her was unstable. She didn’t have enough time to react to it crumbling beneath her, though, and before she knew it she herself began to fall. Viola should have known that fate would not be kind to her. It never was before. Why should she have expected to be allowed to enjoy a reality where her greatest enemy was dead? However before she could hit the ground, everything around Viola turned pitch black.

Chapter Text

Viola sat on the grassy forest floor by Z.W.E.I.’s side. Her magenta eyes focused down on his abdomen while her delicate pale fingers did their best to gently clean the wound he had received from Pyrrha. She stayed silent and maintained a stoic expression, though she couldn’t help but steal glances at him through her curly silver hair that fell to either side of her face. Many thoughts swam around in her head, and she had many feelings she couldn’t pinpoint. She couldn’t allow herself to be too absorbed with what it all meant now though, so instead she would focus on the warmth beneath her fingers. Though she remained focused on her task, she could feel a certain pair of ocean blue eyes watching her. And there were a few moments where she would give in and glace back at them. Z.W.E.I. looked exhausted to Viola. His already torn purple jacket was even more torn and stained with blood. Littered across his exposed chest, abdomen, and arms were bruises and wounds that had already scarred over. But through his exhaustion, Z.W.E.I. was still able to smile at her, even if it was a weak smile. Viola didn’t return his smile this time and instead simply resumed tending to his wound. Z.W.E.I. sighed and laid his head back against the grass.

“Why the face?” he asked casually, as though he wasn’t bleeding out at that current moment. 

“You are an idiot,” Viola simply responded without looking at him. What sort of question was that? How could he expect her to be anything less than worried right now?

“Maybe. But I’m your idiot, right?” he responded wittily, causing Viola to pause and look at him again, this time directly rather than out of the corner of her eye. This was no time for humor, and yet Viola found a small smile spreading on her lips in spite of herself. It was pathetic, Z.W.E.I. was the one laying on the ground injured, and yet he felt the need to comfort her by making her laugh. But then again that was something unique to Z.W.E.I, no one else could make her smile the way he did.  He smiled back at her and for a moment Viola allowed their locked gazes to stay that way before she shook her head and went back to work on cleaning and treating his wound. Silence lingered between them for another moment before Viola spoke up.

“You should have never faced Dumas alone...I should have been there with you...maybe then you wouldn’t have been killed…” she voiced out loud as she began to feel her eyes sting. She missed Z.W.E.I. so much...but he was right here in front of her. Z.W.E.I.’s eyebrows knit and he looked up at her with confusion before he shook his head. 

“No...it would have been too dangerous. My life is a small price to pay if it means you get to live freely, in a world without Graf Dumas being a constant threat to you,” he spoke seriously now, and Viola knew he meant every word of what he said. And that only made her heart ache even more when she heard it. Her eyes closed and tears began to silently glide down her porcelain cheeks. Viola often wondered how other humans could be so selfish, and now she sat here wishing that the one person who had shown her selflessness for so long could have been selfish too. Viola was no stranger to fearing for her life. But what did it mean to live now that the one person who she valued above all was gone along with the threat to her life? 

Z.W.E.I. raised a hand gently to her face and ran his thumb across her cheek to wipe away the tears. “You fought well in the battle,” he commented, trying to change the subject. Viola opened her eyes and looked at him. He gently held her face for another moment before his hand descended down to meet hers and he idly brought it up to rest on his chest, to the upper tip of the moon tattoo, over his heart. The feeling of his heart beating brought Viola comfort and she felt herself begin to relax. If only…

“I saw you from where I was up by the castle. I’m proud of you. Those soldiers...they didn’t know what hit them,” a half-grin spread on his lips before he sighed contently and closed his eyes. “If I’m being honest, seeing how hard and bravely you fought motivated me a lot. I don’t think I could have finished off Dumas if it weren’t for you,” he spoke gently. Viola was unsure of how to respond to that and simply continued to watch him. Even through all the bruises and scars, she couldn’t help but admire him. His tanned skin, chiseled face, and the silver portions of his otherwise dark hair appeared to glow under the moonlight, and the only word Viola could use to describe him was ‘ ethereal ’. After a moment Z.W.E.I. opened his eyes again and looked back up at her, though Viola quickly looked down at her lap, as though suddenly interested in the lace of her purple dress and stockings. She was quickly made aware of the beating of her own heart in her chest, and it almost felt like it was beating in unison with Z.W.E.I.’s. Her cheeks felt warm and a wave of... some sort of emotion ...washed over her. It was an emotion she was used to by now, but she still couldn’t put a name to it. All she knew was that Z.W.E.I. was the only one who could make her feel it. 

Viola took a calm breath before looking back to Z.W.E.I.’s abdomen and she moved her free hand to resume treating the wound. However a quick moment passed before Viola realized that the wound was gone. She lifted the bloodsoaked rag she was cleaning it with and was amazed to see it was as though he had never been stabbed to begin with. Her eyebrows raised with curiosity and she looked back up to Z.W.E.I.’s face. He seemed completely unphased by the fact that his wounds had all seemingly been healed. 

“How did-” Viola started before he cut her off.

“Why don’t you lay here with me?” Z.W.E.I. asked. The question caught Viola off guard, but it didn’t sound like an unenticing offer by any means. Viola lingered where she sat before she shifted. She raised a hand to remove the embroidered hood of her muted violet cloak from off her head before she positioned herself beside him on the ground, on the opposite side of him from where she was first sitting. She laid on her side and looked at his face searchingly before her gaze lowered to his chest and she realized that he was still tenderly holding her hand to his heart. Almost as if another force was acting on her, Viola shifted closer to Z.W.E.I., until her head laid on his chest next to their conjoined hands. The sound of his heartbeat soon filled her ears and she felt his strong arm encircle her small frame gently to hold her close. She took a deep breath and slowly she began to feel herself relaxing against him. When it was just the two of them, they often laid like this when Viola felt anxious, and it never failed to make her feel safe. Usually Z.W.E.I. would start some sort of conversation consisting of smalltalk to get her mind off of whatever it was that was bothering her at that moment. But right now there was nothing but silence. It didn’t bother Viola though. What even was there to talk about after what had happened? All she wanted was to be there with him. A long beat of silence passed before Viola finally spoke. 

“Don’t leave me...please…” she pleaded in a small voice. 

Amy paced back and forth around the parlor of the Dumas estate, red curled pigtails bouncing as she nervously picked at the embroidery of her frilly black and pink dress, pondering over what was to come. It was so strange, the dream she had while unconscious only an hour before had been so vivid, and yet she couldn’t remember anything that had happened in it. But there was something nagging her in her head, urging her to burst out the doors and run. “Raphael is in danger, you must go after him!!” her conscious screamed at her. But Amy kept her composure. She promised Maelys that if she was to attempt this mission that she would do it according to the rules that Maelys herself set. And as such, the maids and butlers of the estate were hard at work already, getting everything she needed to make this journey. The stablehand was preparing her horse while the maids were preparing her clothes and any supplies she might need. The weather had drastically changed since she had gone out earlier that night though, and it was now thunderstorming hard outside. That might cause some delay, and Amy feared they may have to postpone for the morning. Who knows how much farther Raphael could get between now and morning? That idiot...what business did he think he had making such foolish errands to...well, Amy still wasn’t sure exactly where it was he was going. But she was sure that she could find him if she tried hard enough. She wondered if there was anything in his study that might tell her? Would Maelys even allow her to search it? 

The young girl sighed and moved to stand by the window. Her emerald green eyes peered out and watched as the rain drummed against the trees and ground in the courtyard. Most would view rain like this as undesirable but Amy took comfort in it, and the sounds it made when it hit the roof and windows. 

The whole view through the window was obscured by a particularly bright flash of lightning and Amy flinched at the very loud clap of thunder that followed soon after. While she enjoyed the rain, she didn’t envy anyone who might be stuck outside in such weather. She thought back to her days in Rouen slums. Back then she was small enough that she could crawl into any space for cover during weather like this but she would often watch other slum-dwellers fight each other for what little space there was to go around, sometimes even resulting in the death of one of them. It certainly wasn’t a life Amy missed. A quiet whimpering broke her train of thought and she looked back to see her dog, Olivier, looking for comfort after having been startled by the thunder. A small smile grew on Amy’s lips and she knelt down in front of the brown and black papillion before reaching a hand out to pet his head. 

“It’s not going to hurt you, silly dog. We’re indoors, we’re safe,” she spoke lightheartedly before gently picking the dog up into her arms and walking back over to the window. Something had changed though between now and moments before the lightning struck. There was something laying in the courtyard...or was that...someone ? “...Maelys…?” Amy called to her governess, though not taking her eyes off the figure, a woman sprawled out on the ground in the pouring rain in a tattered, dirtied and torn dress, with many obvious bleeding injuries. Amy frowned and her eyes widened in concern before she spoke up again more urgently. “Maelys! Get the medical supplies, now! There’s an unconscious woman in the courtyard and she’s injured!”

Chapter Text

A few hours had gone by since Amy first spotted the unconscious woman in the courtyard. Since then, she was brought inside with the help of a few servants. The woman had quickly come to in a panic when she was out of the rain and she was quickly escorted to a tub of warm water Maelys had some of the maids prepare for her, and she was then allowed to exchange the tattered and torn lacy dress she had been wearing for something out of Maelys’s wardrobe, though it was somewhat big on her. It was very lucky that Maelys had the skills it took to know how to use sutures and needles among other medical supplies. Amy had sat to the side and watched as Maelys did her best to close the woman’s wounds. Her blonde bun she typically wore had loosened with all the commotion and stray pieces of hair now framed her face, though not enough to obscure her warm hazel eyes. She was very focused, though also as gentle as she could be as the woman winced beneath her touch. 

Raphael often referred to Maelys as a shrewd maid, but Amy saw it somewhat differently. She never had a mother herself, but Amy imagined that having one felt much like how she did when Maelys was around. Her motherly nature was shining through now as Amy watched her carefully tend to each wound, and speak in a quiet gentle tone to try and reassure the woman that everything would be alright. But Amy wondered if the injured woman was even listening to what Maelys was saying. Though she squirmed when she felt pain, her red-magenta eyes were cast down to the floor, with her curly silver hair forming a barrier between her face and anyone who was looking at her. She was numb, that much Amy could tell already, though from what exactly, she still wasn’t sure. Her mind went back to when they had gone out to retrieve the woman, when she laid limp and pale on the ground, helpless. A glass ball sat just to her side, and Amy could swear that it was just faintly glowing purple. “Don’t leave me...please…” the words the woman unconsciously murmured before being awoken rung in Amy’s ears, only causing her curiosity about the woman to grow. The feeling that someone important was leaving...that was a feeling Amy was all too familiar with. 

Maelys had sent Amy to bed but after about ten minutes, the girl decided that she wasn’t tired and snuck back down to the parlor where the mysterious woman now sat in silence with her back turned toward the doorway, wrapped in a warm robe and sat by the lit fireplace with a purple light glowing around her. Amy said nothing and simply sat on the floor by the doorway in her nightgown and watched her patiently. Half an hour passed by. An hour and a half. It was hard to deny that there was something very strange about this woman, and Amy was beginning to believe that it wasn’t a coincidence that she had appeared to them on this night in particular. But whatever the reason was that she had come to them now was yet to be seen. 

“Young lady!” Amy flinched at the sharp whispering of her visibly upset governess standing above her with her arms crossed. “You were supposed to have gone to bed almost two hours ago, what are you doing here?” she asked sternly, still keeping her voice as quiet as she could. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” Amy simply responded in a low voice before her attention turned back to their mysterious guest. “She’s just been sitting here in that same position this whole time…” Maelys looked down at Amy for a moment before she sat down on the ground beside her. 

“We should give her all the space she needs to be comfortable. We have no idea what she’s been through. She’s barely spoken a word since we found her,” Maelys explained in a sympathetic tone. “Her name is Viola.”

“Viola…” Amy echoed before she fell silent in contemplation. “I want to talk to her,” Amy decided. 

“I don’t think that would be wise, my lady. She seems to want to be left alone,” Maelys tried to convince, though she knew Amy well and knew her mind wouldn’t be changed once it was set on something. “But...I suppose you can be the one to bring her the food we’ve prepared for her. I’ve had the cook prepare bouillon for her. It isn’t much, but it’s at least a warm meal. Hopefully in the morning when the storm has died down and the market opens up we can make her something better,” she explained as she stood up and extended a hand to Amy. Amy took her hand and stood up and followed Maelys to the kitchen to assemble the tray of food that was to be brought to Viola. It was a simple spread, a bowl of warm broth, some bread, and a glass of water. Though part of Amy wondered if the woman would even eat it. Still, it was as good an excuse as any to get close enough to her to talk to her. Amy cleared her voice as she entered the fire-lit but otherwise dark room so as to alert their guest to her presence and then calmly approached her. She stopped to the side of the woman and sat down, placing the tray close to the other. 

“I’ve brought you something to eat,” she announced in a calm voice. “The servants figured you may be hungry after everything that’s happened.” Viola maintained her silence and her attention stayed fixed on the glass orb they had brought in with her, now positioned in her lap and glowing bright purple, though for a moment Amy could swear the woman had quickly glanced at her. Amy remained seated on the ground quietly with her eyes trained on Viola, as she tried her best to gauge what she was thinking. After a moment though, her gaze trailed to the woman’s lap and paused on the glowing glass orb in her lap. Was it glowing more brightly now than it had a moment ago? How was it even doing that, Amy wondered? 

Viola’s eyebrows raised slightly at the orb’s sudden shift in brightness and she turned her head to look at Amy with a look of confusion, though she still didn’t speak. Amy looked back up to meet the older woman’s gaze questioningly, but the woman said nothing still, and simply looked back down at her lap. 

“The sun will soon vanish, and leave stars in its place,” Viola finally spoke while keeping her attention down at the orb. Amy frowned, not quite sure how to respond to such a random statement. Of course the sun leaves stars in its place, Amy thought. But the sun had already vanished for the night, and Amy was sure that there were still stars beyond the thunderstorm still taking place. What could she possibly mean by that? Amy looked back at Maelys who was standing in the doorway, wondering if maybe she knew what that could possibly mean. Her raised eyebrow and confused expression told Amy that she didn’t. Maelys moved into the room herself and moved to sit on the couch closest to Viola though she said nothing. 

“...you may not be able to see the stars tonight but they are still already there, beyond the clouds,” Amy finally responded to the seemingly random statement. Viola carried on staring at her orb, as though she were the only one in the room and no one was speaking to her. Amy watched her silently for a moment, her head tilted as she tried to decide what to make of this woman. She had questions, but was Viola willing to answer them, she wondered? “...I don’t suppose you are going to tell us why you were out there in the courtyard like that, are you? You are aware that that was considered trespassing, right?” 

“Lady Amy!” Maelys scolded in response to Amy’s insensitive interrogation. Viola didn’t seem phased by it though. Her attention was still scarcely on the other two in the room though after a few moments, to both Amy and Maelys’s surprise, she responded. 

“I don’t know…” She stated simply. Amy frowned and looked at the woman with confusion. She didn’t know how she got there?

“Alright...then where were you before?” Amy pressed on while doing her best to ignore the stern look Maelys was giving her. Viola paused for a moment and took a deep and shaky yet quiet breath. 

“I was participating in the war,” she explained, earning her surprised looks and raised eyebrows. Was there a war going on currently?

“If I may ask…” Maelys began calmly after another beat of silence, “what war are you referring to? I was not aware that there were any wars that were happening nearby…” Now it was Viola’s turn to look confused. She looked up and then over to Maelys with knit eyebrows. 

“Against Graf Dumas…” Viola explained, falling silent for a moment as she tried to make sense of what was being said. Perhaps Graf Dumas’s true identity wasn’t public information yet? “Schwarzwind had uncovered that Graf Dumas is Nightmare and that he is the one responsible for the spike in attacks by the malfested,” she continued. 

Maelys appeared to be completely lost by the story, and Amy began feeling uncomfortable at the mention of that name. Dumas...as in the dead former lord of this estate…? After a moment of racking her brain, Maelys began to slowly shake her head. 

“Graf...Dumas...I can’t say I’ve heard of him before…” Maelys finally spoke.

Chapter Text

The room filled with a heavy silence almost strong enough to muffle the crackling of the fireplace and the sound of the rain that had gentled since the violent storm had begun. Graf Dumas had been an influential politician renowned throughout all of Europe for his crusade against those who opposed him, who he was very quick to label as malfested. But in reality, as was uncovered recently, Graf Dumas was actually the wielder of Soul Edge, Nightmare, the master of all the malfested. Using his malfested followers to wreak havoc, he was able to manipulate those with innocent intentions to participate in this crusade, which he called The Malfested Hunt, in order to strike down any and all opposition. From how often Viola had ventured into the various towns as per her duties to Schwarzwind, it was a commonly spoken about ordeal. Judging by the size of this estate, the seemingly expensive and lavish furnishing, and the clothing of everyone inside the house, it would seem that Viola had stumbled upon a rather wealthy household. Was it really possible that these people didn’t know about all that had been happening over the past nearly two decades?

“Graf Dumas...of Hungary…?” Viola repeated herself, adding another descriptor in hopes that that may remind the two sitting with her. 

“Hungary…” Maelys echoed before looking at Viola with sympathy. “Viola...we are in France…” Viola’s eyebrows raised slightly. That was right...they were all speaking French right now… It had been years since Viola found herself speaking French. But that begged the question, how did she get here? The last thing she remembered… as Viola thought back she felt herself fill up with an intense sense of emptiness. Z.W.E.I….he was gone now… 

“However…” Maelys continued after a long pause, bringing Viola out of her thoughts, “there is a Lord Dumas. Lord Dumas is actually the lord of this estate. He’s been away for a long while though...no one has seen him in years.” Viola had turned around to face the two now directly while speaking to them and the little one, Amy, seemed visibly uncomfortable by the conversation. Did she know anything that could be of value to Viola perhaps? “Lord Dumas is a kind man though,” she went on. “He even took in the little mistress right here and her father in their time of need. Isn’t that right, my lady?” Maelys asked as she looked over at the child with a smile. Amy said nothing and responded with a simple forced smile before continuing to stare out the window, seemingly uninterested in the conversation. If Viola didn’t know any better, she was trying to avoid the conversation now as opposed to a few moments early when she so clearly wanted to speak. “He surely isn’t a man who would incite violence against any opposition. At least not in such a corrupt way. The most he would do is have Amy’s father go and duel his opposition in a fair match to settle disputes.” Maelys concluded, then sighing. 

This didn’t add up to Viola. Was it simply a coincidence that the lord of the estate she was currently in is a completely different man who happened to be named Dumas? And what of the Graf Dumas she was familiar with? 

Maelys had sent Amy off to sleep for the second time and at the mention of it, Viola became aware of how weary she had grown. It was lucky that there were many rooms in the house that a guest could sleep in that were already bedded and ready for use. Viola followed Maelys out of the parlor and up the stairs, then down the hall. Though as they walked down the hall, something had caught Viola’s eye. A painting only visible by the silver light of the moon pouring in from the crack between the curtains caused Viola to stop for a moment. Her eyes passed over it, though it was hard to make out exactly what the painting was. Viola held up her glowing orb to illuminate the bottom half of the painting and recognized the portrait of a young girl with red pigtails. This must be Amy, she thought to herself. The girl was sitting in a chair wearing an elaborate black and pink dress and her hair was held up in two neat curly pigtails. The expression on her face suggested that she was disinterested in the idea of being sat down for a painting. But upon further inspection, Viola realized that there was a gloved hand resting on the girl’s shoulder that didn’t belong to her. Viola raised her hand holding the orb up and willed it to levitate higher until an eerily familiar face was illuminated in violet. Standing behind the girl with his hand on her shoulder was a well-dressed blond man who seemed to be both smiling and scowling at the same time. Viola stared up at his face, his piercing blue eyes feeling like they were cutting into her like a hot blade despite the fact that this was merely a portrait and Viola’s eyes widened somewhat in shock. The sound of her own heart pounding in her chest was ringing in her ears. Staring down at her from within the painting was none other than the man who had made Viola’s life a living nightmare, Graf Dumas . Was this the Lord Dumas that Maelys had spoken so highly of? Had she been lying this whole time about his identity?

“It’s lovely, isn’t it?” Maelys’s voice broke the silence of the dark hallway, startling Viola in the process as she walked up behind her. 

“I...huh…?” Viola wasn’t sure how to respond. Maelys looked up and eyed the now floating orb with a neutral expression, though Viola could tell she was less than impressed. Her gaze moved down to Viola’s face and she stared searchingly for a moment before her attention moved back to the painting. 

“The young master had this painting done by one of the best painters in all of France in honor of the day he adopted his daughter,” Maelys explained. 

“...I see…” Viola responded, falling silent for a moment in contemplation before speaking again. “And this master of yours...he is not the Lord Dumas you were speaking of earlier…?” 

“No, Lord Dumas is a much older gentleman and he hasn’t been home in years. The young master’s name is Raphael. Though...I suppose you could consider him a Dumas as well. Just before Lord Dumas left, he put it in writing that Raphael should inherit everything from him. In a way, I suppose you could say that Lord Dumas is like Raphael’s father.” Viola felt herself growing numb with this new information. So it wasn’t a coincidence, the man in the painting is the Dumas she was familiar with. But...he had a family? Out in France? And none of them knew he was the Graf of Hungary? None of this made any sense to Viola. 

“...and where is he now…?” Viola inquired. 

“The young master left on a trip a few days ago though he wouldn’t say where he was going or why he was going there,” Maelys explained. Viola stayed quiet and stared up at the faces in the portrait as she worked the information received in her head, trying her best to piece the timelines together. One of the last things she remembered before she awoke here was Graf Dumas being killed. The same Graf Dumas who resided in Denever Castle. But now she’s hearing that the Dumas in the portrait, who was the spitting image of the Graf Dumas she knew, save for the one in the portrait having blue eyes instead of red, had been here merely days ago and was off on a trip of some sort. How did this all fit together? 

“...I would like to be taken to my room now.”

Sunlight poured throught the rustling leaves of the forest and the air was filled with the sounds of nature. Birds sang and chirped and the pitterpatter of deer hooves as they pranced about was audible. The sound of a flowing stream could be heard in the distance. And a gentle breeze flowed in between all the strong trees. It was a lovely day to be walking through the forest, though Viola found herself on high alert as they did. Rather than just focusing on the road ahead, her head was turned in every which direction in search of danger. She didn’t even realize that Z.W.E.I. was watching her with amusement before he let out a small chuckle. Viola blinked and looked up at him.

“I fail to understand what you find so funny,” Viola said with a small frown. Z.W.E.I. gave a lighthearted sigh.

“You don’t have to be on constant lookout for Dumas’s assassins anymore,” he begun to explain. “We’re with Schwarzwind now, Dumas wouldn’t dare touch us unless he wanted to have a whole mercenary guild chasing after him.” Viola didn’t feel convinced. 

“How can you be so sure that Schwarzwind would go after him in that case?” Viola questioned as they continued to walk. So far very few within the guild stood out to Viola, and she certainly couldn’t imagine most of them going out of their way for her and Z.W.E.I. Siegfried and Lady Hildegard seemed the most trustworthy to Viola but only time would tell how true that intuition is. Though she knew that Z.W.E.I. saw it differently. When they were wandering around together she remembered the stories he would tell of Siegfried, the knight who had broken free from the shackles Soul Edge had once placed around him. There was a time when Z.W.E.I., too, was bound to the cursed sword against his will. It was in his younger years that he and Siegfried had bonded, and it was because of that shared experience that Z.W.E.I. placed so much faith in him. 

“I trust Siegfried,” Z.W.E.I. affirmed. Viola felt his hand finding hers and their fingers naturally interlaced together. “Do you trust me?” Viola’s expression softened and she looked up to find Z.W.E.I. looking down at her with the gentle tenderness she knew he only reserved for her. What did the fluttering she felt in her heart mean?

“No, I can’t say that I do,” Viola responded in a playful tone as she looked forward again, then giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Z.W.E.I laughed, and Viola found herself chuckling as well. Silence fell between them for a moment but Viola didn’t mind. Even with the assassins that got sent after them, Viola enjoyed traveling with Z.W.E.I. They were returning from a mission Siegfried had assigned them on but in this moment, when it was just the two of them walking through the forest, it almost felt like they had returned to that life. 

“Zwei?” Viola spoke up finally. 

“Hm?”

“When this is all over, and we don’t have to deal with Dumas anymore, what are you going to do?” she inquired genuinely. Z.W.E.I. stayed silent for a moment in contemplation, the line between his lips thinning before he started answering.

“Well...I guess it depends on what we’ve got going on at that point. But...I think it’d be nice to get back on the road. But also...it’d be nice to have somewhere to go home to as well. Maybe a cottage in the woods or something to return to every once in a while. What about you?” It was Viola’s turn to contemplate silently before she simply shook her head. 

“I...don’t know…” she confessed. As much as Viola hated to admit it, she didn’t know what a life outside of having to evade assassins looked like. A question rang in her head, one that had plagued her ever since she had awoken in the abandoned encampment with no memories one fateful day. What was her purpose in life? Why was she here? Z.W.E.I. gave Viola a reassuring smile.

“Well one thing’s for sure, you aren’t gonna be rid of me that easily,” he spoke lightheartedly. “We’re kindred spirits, remember?” The sentiment cause Viola to feel her heart swell. She felt Z.W.E.I.’s thumb rub against hers tenderly as he continued to speak. “My first priority is keeping you safe. But my second one is helping you get your memories back. And I won’t rest until you do.” His conviction brought a smile to Viola’s face and she looked down to the ground bashfully. There truly wasn’t a kinder soul on this earth than Z.W.E.I.’s, of that Viola was convinced. 

“Thank you, Zwei.”

Viola awoke a few hours after Maelys had shown her her room for the night feeling somber. Adjusting the nightgown she was given to sleep in, she rolled over groggily to face the window and noted that it was still dark out, though a sliver of light could be seen on the horizon, where the sky touched the earth. The moon was still faintly visible. She wasn’t going to go back to sleep anytime soon, but she laid still on her side and watched through the window, her eyes fixated on the crescent moon that had been mostly hidden the night before by the violent storm. Viola had no idea that one could have so much on their mind so soon after waking up and yet her mind was being pulled in every direction by thoughts, questions, and feelings, so much so that she wasn’t sure how to process it all. She felt confused, she felt sad, she felt lonely, she felt empty. 

“Zwei…” she whispered to herself as she watched the moon from her bed, her eyes beginning to sting. She closed her eyes and tears began going down her face before getting absorbed by the linen pillowcase her head was resting on. “...why did you leave me? We were so close to getting what we had wanted...Lady Hilde was even prepared to give us land in her kingdom to build our own cottage on…” she sobbed, though staying as quiet as she could. It wasn’t fair. But nothing ever was, that was a lesson Viola had been made aware of the day she began interacting with other people. “I miss you so much...I feel so lost, I don’t know what to do…”

Chapter Text

Viola couldn’t go back to sleep. She simply laid in her bed and watched as the sky slowly brightened with the light of dawn, though for how long she laid there, she didn’t know. A focused expression found itself spread across her features as she went over everything that had happened the day before, and all the information presented to her that she had yet to make sense of. It felt very strange to her that she was being treated as a guest in Graf Dumas’s home, sleeping in his bed, conversing with his servants and his daughter as though she hadn’t been labeled as wanted by the man and sought after by his countless assassins. There was something strange afoot here, and Viola wanted to get to the bottom of it. With a deep breath, she rose off the bed and moved to get dressed, exchanging her nightgown for a dress Maelys had left for her, a simple long dark blue dress with white lace accents. She found herself missing the muted purple cloak she always wore, and almost felt overly exposed by not having a hood to cover her head with. But this would have to do for now. She found her orb and made her way back down to the parlor, then finding a place to sit on one of the couches to meditate with her orb in her lap. Maelys awoke and entered the parlor a few hours after her with a somewhat surprised expression. 

“Good morning...you’re up early,” Maelys commented. Viola didn’t look up and continued staring at her orb in silence, though she could feel the maid’s eyes on her. It had been quite a while since Viola had gotten stares for her abilities, though she was mostly used to it by this point. Compared to the number of times angry townspeople had run her out of town or suggested burning her at the stake for witchcraft, this was rather tame. Over time, she had learned to largely ignore the staring. Z.W.E.I. often told her that if people weren’t willing to speak their mind up front then they weren’t worth worrying about. And so Viola had learned to simply let people stare. 

“So, Viola…” Maelys spoke up again. “Where is it you said you come from again? Hungary?” Viola felt the question hit a nerve though she didn’t show it. 

“Nowhere.” She simply responded, not wanting to elaborate. Seventeen years, and Viola still didn’t have a clue where it was she came from. It was a sad reality, having no recollection of one’s past or remembering their origin, but it was a reality that Viola was faced with daily. She tried not to dwell on it now and instead kept her gaze fixed on her orb though she could tell that Maelys was confused by her answer. 

“Nowhere…?” she echoed. “Surely you have a home to return to?” The woman asked genuinely, taking a seat on the sofa adjacent from Viola and looking at her with knit eyebrows. Viola didn’t want to answer and so she stayed silent, rathering to endure the maid’s stares over disclosing specific information about her life. Did she not have duties around the house to attend to?

“Maelys?” A young voice called from the stairway and Viola gave a silent sigh of relief that something had come along to take the attention off of her. Amy walked through the doorway of the parlor with a sense of purpose, fully dressed now and with her red hair done up in neat curls akin to the hair she wore in the portrait Viola had seen the night before. Her arms were crossed and she watched her governess as she stood up to greet her with a serious expression. 

“My lady, good morning,” Maelys greeted with a polite nod of her head. “You’re already dressed, I see. But you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you?”

“There’s no time for that right now, we have a schedule to keep and we are already one night behind,” Amy expressed sternly, causing Maelys to sigh. “Have the stablehand prepare my horse,” she demanded calmly.

“My lady…” Maelys responded quietly but with exasperation in her voice. “I sympathize with your effort, I truly do. And I want to look for Master Raphael as well. But,” Maelys subtly gestured behind her in Viola’s direction. “We’ve been preoccupied. Not to mention, we haven’t found you a bodyguard to go with you yet, and that was one of my conditions for allowing you to take this trip,” she explained, gently asserting her authority over the child. Amy’s stern expression turned into a frown. “Come now, let’s go get you breakfast.” Maelys reached out for Amy’s shoulder but Amy shook her hand off.

“You promised,” she spoke calmly yet her anger was very apparent. 

“And I intend to keep my promise to you. But right now we must be patient.” Amy’s gaze shifted to the side stubbornly and with disappointment. Maelys looked down at Amy sympathetically before lowering herself down to one knee, and one of her hands moved up to gently rest on the girl’s shoulder.  “I promise, as soon as a suitable bodyguard presents themself, you can go looking for him,” she said solemnly, though Amy didn’t look convinced. Viola was sitting quietly and listening all the while, and her mind was turning as she processed what she was being said before an idea came to her. 

“What if I went with her?” Viola offered, now looking up to face the two directly. Maelys looked back at Viola with a small skepticism and Amy stared at her with slightly widened eyes. Her expression was mostly neutral but Viola recognized something when the two briefly locked gazes, the girl’s eyes held a glimmer of hope. “I’m a mercenary. I have plenty of experience being a bodyguard.”

“It’s settl-” Amy began before Maelys cut her off. 

“Can you give us a moment?” Maelys asked politely before pulling Amy out into the hall. Once the two were out of earshot, Maelys turned to Amy and spoke in a low voice. “My lady, I must object, I think you should wait for someone else to come along.” Amy crossed her arms and looked at Maelys questioningly. 

“Oh? And why is that?” Amy contested. Maelys gave her a nervous look before speaking in an even lower voice than before. 

“I suspect that she may be a witch.” Amy looked less than impressed by this statement. 

“And? What’s your point?” 

“I don’t trust her. And I won’t have you traversing to God knows where with a witch. Think of how unsafe that may be. Think of what kind of reputation that may place on the Dumas household. Please be rational, my lady.”

“I am,” Amy protested stubbornly.  “You heard her, she has been a bodyguard before. And she said she’s been to war so she’s clearly an experienced fighter. The perfect bodyguard appears at our doorstep and you want to turn her down simply because of superstition?” Maelys sighed and shook her head. 

“Why don’t we talk about this after breakfast?” 

“I won’t be eating,” Amy responded decidedly. Maelys frowned. 

“You know as well as I do that the young Master wouldn’t approve of you skipping meals.”

“You’re right, he wouldn’t,” Amy agreed. “I hope you have fun explaining to him why his daughter refuses to eat then when he comes back. If he even comes back at all.”   Maelys’s eyebrows raised slightly and her eyes widened at the thought. Amy kept a neutral expression but she was inwardly pleased with herself for her manipulation tactic. Checkmate. Most rational parents would scold their children for disobedience but Amy knew Raphael was anything but rational. Even if he were to get upset with her, she knew the servants of the estate would get a much bigger earful about the matter than she would ever receive. And judging by Maelys’s expression, she was well aware of that too. The line between her governess’s lips thinned for a moment before she took a deep breath and then released an exasperated sigh. 

“Very well then. I shall trust your intuition.” 

After breakfast and after the servants had all taken the time to gather Amy’s and Maelys’ belongings, as well as any provisions and necessities, Amy, Maelys, and Viola set off on their journey. Maelys sat in the front of a wagon being pulled by horse to steer and Viola and Amy sat together behind her. Viola stayed quiet for most of the trip and instead watched as the scenery passed them by. The day was nice, the sun shone down and blanketed the land but its warmth was contrasted nicely with the cool breeze that flowed through the air, causing Viola’s silver hair to gently lift off her shoulders. Had she traveled these roads before, she wondered?

Amy was giving Maelys directions to steer the horses in, but how Amy knew where to go was a mystery to Viola. It didn’t matter though, there were other things on her mind. She still wasn’t sure why she was here, and she wasn’t even sure why she offered to be this girl’s bodyguard in the first place. But something told her that she would be closer to the answers she was looking for if she traveled with this girl, even if she wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for yet. 

The day had gone by and Maelys decided that they would stop in the next town over and stay at an inn. Everyone had settled in for the night so Viola decided to venture into the forest for a peaceful night stroll. Having spent the whole day with the other two, it felt nice to get time to herself. She decided to sit beneath a particularly enticing looking tree to mediate. She sat silently on the ground with her orb before her for a few moments however something was beginning to feel off to her. Something in the air around her had shifted and Viola stood up and took hold of her orb before she began looking around for any abnormalities. She looked right while holding up her orb to illuminate the darkness, and then she slowly turned to look left. Her eyes narrowed slightly before she turned back around to sit down but was greeted with the sight of an unexpected figure who had been standing behind her. Had he been there the whole time? Viola gasped and she staggered backwards in surprise at the sight of a tall hooded man brooding down at her.

Chapter Text

Viola stared up at the hooded figure with the sound of her heartbeat ringing in her ears. He stared back down at her through his hood with an indiscernible expression. Viola couldn’t help but notice the one glowing gold eye accompanying his other naturally gray one, though that didn’t distract at all from the large scythe he held in his hand. He didn’t seem like he was from here, but Viola instantly sensed that there was something different about him. 

“If you’re here to rob me, I haven’t anything of value or interest,” Viola finally spoke after a long beat of silence between them. She straightened her posture and held her orb before her, clutching it to her middle and doing her best not to appear intimidated. She watched as the man silently studied her, not daring to take her eyes off of him. One of the corners of his lips twitched into a small half grin and the man let out an amused breath from his nose before turning his back to Viola.

“So it appears my intuition was correct,” the man spoke mysteriously in a deep voice. Viola only stared at him questioningly.

“What...what are you talking about?”

“You awoke not knowing where you were or how you got there, and now nothing seems to make sense around you. Nothing lines up with the knowledge you had about things previously,” the man stated matter-of-factly, standing still but turning his head to look back at her. His tone suggested he knew exactly what he was talking about. “Does this sound accurate to you?” A sense of discomfort filled Viola at how accurate the man’s statement was. Has this man been watching her? And had he then followed her all the way out here? He wasn’t anyone she recognized. And judging by his elaborately patterned and extravagant white and gold robes and hood, he didn’t seem to be a man of Dumas. 

“...Who are you?” was all Viola could respond after a long beat of silence. The man turned back around to face her. 

“I am called Zasalamel. And I know what happened to you,” he responded simply. Viola maintained her stoic expression but his introduction sparked curiosity. How was that possible? “I sensed a disturbance in the timestream coming from this area and arrived to investigate. Lo and behold, I found you here.” Viola watched the man quietly, turning over every word he said in her head to try and make sense of it. She slowly shook her head in confusion. 

“Meaning…?” she prodded. His expression mostly remained stoic though she could sense amusement in his one gray eye. 

“You are not from this time. By my calculation, I would say you have traveled back about 18 years prior to wherever you were before this happened. Or should I say when ever you were.” Viola listened carefully, her eyebrows raising slightly before her eyes widened. She had gone back in time? She felt her mind dividing, one part of it finding that explanation made perfect sense while the other simply couldn’t accept it. 

“18...years…?” Viola echoed incredulously.

“Give or take.” Schwarzwind...Siegfried and Lady Hilde...the whole war effort...she was so far removed from all that now. And what of that wretched girl and her dog of a brother? The last thing Viola remembered was that Pyrrha had taken Soul Edge for herself, which she had used to open up what she could only describe to be black holes that reeked of the same energy held by the swords. Then she had fallen off that cliff...and then nothing. Was it possible that those holes are the reason she was here now? Viola frowned after a long heavy beat of silence. 

“...you’re a time lord...” Viola reasoned out after putting together everything he said. How else would he have all this information if he wasn’t? “Then...you can get me back to where I belong, right?” she asked cautiously, not wanting to appear too optimistic. Zasalamel shook his head. 

“It isn’t quite that simple. To get back to your time, you will need to utilize the power of an astral fissure. That is how you got here in the first place. However astral fissures are highly unpredictable and we do not yet know how to harness their capabilities. Astral fissures can take you to any point in time and space, usually very randomly. It is out of my area of expertise.” He fell silent and moved his hand up, his finger stroking his chin in contemplation. “If you would like to return to your time, I suggest you seek out the Aval Organization. They have quite a bit of experience dealing with astral fissures and may have the tools you need to get where you need to go.” With that, Zasalamel turned around and started to walk away. 

“Wait,” Viola called out, causing the man to stop in his tracks though his back still faced her.  “Why are you helping me?” She questioned. A small amused grin spread on the man’s lips at the question and he let out a short low chuckle. 

“I suppose you could say I was feeling generous tonight.” And with that, the man walked off, leaving Viola with many questions. And yet, she came out of this conversation with one of her biggest questions answered, and now she had a better idea of what she needed to do. 

Back at the inn, Viola slipped back into the room she was given and climbed into bed, turning over all that she had learned in her head. She was 18 years in the past. This was 18 years before Graf Dumas’s rule. But how did he go from the allegedly kind and loving father he had been described as to becoming a corrupt political leader? And Amy, his daughter...what became of her? Viola felt as though she would have known if the man had a family. 18 years ... This was all taking place before Viola had lost her memory. A wave of sleepiness washed over her and she felt her eyelids grow heavy. She wondered where her own past self was now. Would she recognize herself at this point in time? Those were the last thoughts Viola had before drifting off to sleep. 

The next morning, the trio wasted no time in resuming their traveling. Viola, as per usual, stayed silent as she simply observed Amy and Maelys conversing with one another before she thought back to the night before. Should she tell them about what Zasalamel told her, she wondered? Would they even believe her? She was here to be a bodyguard, so how would she get to the Aval Organization? How would she even know where to find it? She decided that for now she would keep all that she had learned to herself. Perhaps when things become clearer to her she will talk to them about everything. 

Her gaze moved down to her orb in her lap and she watched it with curiosity. It had been glowing in a strange pattern Viola had never seen before. And it only seemed to do that now after she had arrived to this point in time. Perhaps the change in time period was causing issues with it? Viola was ashamed to say she wasn’t sure how it worked to begin with, only how to utilize its abilities. But how it got those abilities or where it even came from was still a mystery to her. It took Viola a moment to realize that the chatter between the girl and her governess had died down and now a certain pair of emerald green eyes were watching her. Viola looked up for a moment wordlessly before looking back down, though now feeling self conscious.

“You stare at that a lot,” Amy observed neutrally. Viola wasn’t sure what to make of such a statement. Was she mocking her?

“Yes, I suppose I do,” was all Viola could say in response as she was still trying to gauge what it was Amy was trying to get at. Amy moved over from her seat within the wagon to sit next to Viola so she could get a better view of the orb. Viola looked at Amy somewhat nervously and her hands subconsciously moved to cover the orb. 

“It looks familiar,” Amy said after a moment, causing Viola’s eyebrows to raise with intrigue. She’d never heard anyone say that to her before. “What does it do?” Viola was hesitant to answer for a moment. Most didn’t take to Viola’s abilities with a sense of wonder the way this girl seemed to be. After a moment she removed her hands from over the glass and held it up so that Amy could have a better view. The strange glowing pattern had gotten stronger within the past couple minutes. Was it responding to...Amy?

“It tells me about people...their souls, their nature...their futures…” Viola described as her eyes darted between the orb and the girl and tried her best to gauge her reaction to what she was saying. Amy was staring at the orb curiously before she nodded her head in understanding. 

“I see...so you’re a fortune teller then,” she reasoned out as she looked over at Viola. Viola nodded. Viola’s lips pressed together in contemplation before she turned to face the girl.

“Would you like to hold it?” she offered. Amy’s eyebrows raised with curiosity before she nodded her head. Viola silently placed the orb in the girl's hands, making sure she was holding it properly before letting go of it. As Viola had suspected, the orb was reacting much more strongly in her hands, though what exactly that meant, Viola was unsure. “I’ve never seen it respond to another that way before...you said it looked familiar to you, do you know why that is?” Amy stared at the orb in her hands for a moment as she tried to recall before finally shaking her head. 

“No...I don’t know why it feels familiar to me, it just does. Maybe I saw it in a dream.” she casually suggested. This struck Viola as odd. Could it be that this girl had been blessed with the same abilities she had? 

“That’s a possibility,” Viola agreed. Amy gently handed the orb back to Viola, who then placed it back in her lap. “Would you be interested in learning how to use it? Not many are able to but something tells me you very well may have what it takes.” Amy’s eyes widened somewhat in wonder at Viola’s statement but she stayed silent. Her gaze bashfully moved to the floor of the wagon, telling Viola all she needed to know about what Amy thought of the idea. A small smile grew on Viola’s lips as she sat back and returned to gazing into her orb. 

Viola typically didn’t interact with children, the mothers of the children in all the villages she passed through made sure of that when they ushered their children indoors whenever Viola was present. And as such, Viola typically wasn’t sure how to interact with them. But there was something different about Amy that Viola could sense, though what exactly that was, she wasn’t sure. But whatever that feeling was, it put her at ease.

Chapter Text

Two days had come and gone rather uneventfully. Viola had largely remained silent and kept to herself, simply listening and observing everything that went on around her. Amy and Maelys didn’t try to engage in conversation too often but that was fine with her. She was never much of a conversationalist to begin with. Instead, she simply liked to take in whatever was happening, the sight of the scenery passing by, the sounds of the gentle bumping and clicking of the wheels against the dirt road and the idle chattering of her two traveling companions, the scent of the forest wafting in her direction by the gentle breeze. 

Evening fell and it soon became dark. The sky was clear, illuminated by a blanket of stars, and embellished by a crescent moon shining down on the earth. Maelys had wanted to persist onward to the next village but Amy insisted that they should instead set up camp in the field off to the side of the road. The horses grazed off to the side and the three of them sat gathered around a campfire. The air was cool but not uncomfortably so, and it contrasted nicely with the warmth of the fire. It had been a long time since Viola had gotten to sleep beneath the stars like this and in a way, the opportunity brought her great comfort in a way she didn’t realize she needed. It was nights like this that brought her back to her time traveling with Z.W.E.I. Or brought her back to her time living in the Schwarzwind citadel. The gentle warmth caressing her face from the fire brought her back to one particular night. 

The night had been a similar one to this one. The stars shone down over the land and a communal fire had been lit in the middle of the citadel’s outdoor common area. The guild was lively with chatter and laughter. A few of the musically gifted members had brought out their instruments and melodies quickly filled the air. Members of the guild were dancing and drinking and the atmosphere was unusually very happy. Their great success in liberating a village that had been running rampant with the malfested was cause for a celebration and everyone was taking advantage of it. Viola wasn’t one to partake in large celebrations like this and so she simply sat toward the edge and watched all the festivities. Moments like this were rare for her to observe but she found herself enjoying simply watching the change in pace. Seeing everyone drinking and dancing was certainly a change from watching everyone constantly preparing for battle or for mercenary work. The sight brought a slight smile to her face and her shoulders relaxed to match the atmosphere. 

Some chatter from afar caught her attention and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Z.W.E.I. had arrived with his sword resting against his shoulder. A few of the women in the guild had gone to his side all with smiles spread on their faces. Viola couldn’t make out what they were saying to him but judging by their body language, she could only assume that they wanted him to dance with them. The idea caused a small feeling of sadness to spike inside her and she looked down at her orb in her lap with a small sigh. Z.W.E.I.’s happiness was very important to Viola. But then why did she feel awash with disappointment when other women decided to make advances on him? Why did the sight and sound of it cause Viola to feel so small? A gloved hand reaching out to her pulled her out of her thoughts and her gaze trailed upward to see Z.W.E.I. standing over her with a smile. Viola looked back up at him with confusion. 

“...what is it?” 

“I thought you might want to dance. Hmm… Wait, maybe you want me to be more formal about it.” Zwei put his sword down beside Viola and put his now free hand behind his back and bowed before once again extending a hand out to her. “May I have this dance, my lady?” he asked lightheartedly. Viola watched at first with confusion and then with amusement and she had very quickly forgotten that she even felt disappointed and sad only moments ago. Did he know what it was she was feeling, perhaps? Was she just that easy for him to read? Viola gave a lighthearted shake of her head and roll of her eyes at the rather silly gesture. 

“I don’t know how to dance,” Viola responded. Z.W.E.I. stood up again and looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. 

“You expect me to have seen the way you fight and then believe that?” Z.W.E.I. chuckled before reaching down for her hand. “Come on, it’ll be fun. Besides, these guys are all drunk, do you think they know how to dance?” he coaxed. Viola gave a conceding sigh before setting her orb down beside his sword and stood up while holding his hand. 

“Alright, lead the way.” Looking pleased with himself, Z.W.E.I. led her into the crowd, closer to the communal fire in the center and gave Viola a quick twirl before the two stood facing each other and positioned themselves for a partner dance. Viola was surprised how natural it felt to dance with Z.W.E.I. and yet the eyes on from the other members caused her to feel stiff and she could feel her cheeks warm. She nervously bit the inside of her bottom lip and looked around before whispering, “They’re staring…” Z.W.E.I. looked down at her warmly and she felt herself grow at ease when their eyes locked. 

“Let them stare,” he insisted gently. “It’s probably better that way.” His expression was somewhat playful and Viola could only look up at him with confusion. What exactly did he mean by that?

Viola was brought back to the present with the sound of rustling among the trees and bushes nearby. Someone was there and she had no way of knowing whether they had innocent intentions or not. Putting her reminiscing aside, Viola stood up at the ready with her orb in hand, willing it to levitate as she stood ready to defend the people she was protecting. Amy had also stood up with her own weapon in hand, a short rapier. Was it normal for children to be trained in sword arts? Before Viola could inquire, a handful of hooded men made their presence known as they pushed through the bushes and forest with their swords drawn, demanding they be given all the money and valuables that Amy’s escort team had. Viola had been about to engage in battle but paused at the sound of one of the men crying out in pain and collapsing to the ground. The other men turned back to look at him and a few more of them were cut down. 

“Shut up !” A feminine voice yelled as she bludgeoned the last one standing over the head with her shield, causing him to fall over though whether he was dead or simply unconscious, Viola wasn’t sure yet. The woman gave one last kick to the leader’s body before standing with her hands on her hips and looking down at him frustratedly, then shaking her head with disappointment. This silver-haired woman struck Viola as particularly odd. She wasn’t familiar at all, but there was a strange energy that came from her that felt very familiar. The presence of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur both emitted very strongly from this woman, the same way they emitted from those black holes, the astral fissures, from earlier. 

“Shirin!” Amy called out welcomingly with a warm look on her face. Viola tilted her head in confusion. They knew each other? The woman, Shirin, looked in their direction and her face lit up before she walked over to greet them. Viola beckoned her orb back into her hands and held it up in Shirin’s direction and was astonished to see something she had never seen before. Normal people’s souls appeared to Viola in the form of full moons. Those who were associated with Soul Calibur’s souls appeared to her in the form of blue moons. And those who were associated with Soul Edge’s souls appeared to her in the form of crimson moons. However this woman’s soul was none of these. Her soul was split down the middle, with half of the moon being blue and the other half crimson. It was unlike anything Viola had ever seen. 

“Amy! Maelys! It’s so nice to see you again,” Shirin greeted with a smile. She looked around nervously for a moment before turning back to Amy. “Uh...Raphael isn’t here, is he…?” she inquired cautiously. Amy frowned for a moment before raising an eyebrow. 

“No...that’s actually why we’re out here. And I guess that means you haven’t seen him…” she sighed with disappointment. Shirin watched Amy with curiosity. 

“Wait, he’s missing? Huh...well...maybe...I can help…?” she offered. Maelys smiled at the offer. 

“That would be very helpful, Lady Shirin. Thank you. Until then, why don’t you join us for the night? It’s safer to sleep in numbers than all alone,” Maelys suggested kindly. Shirin accepted the offer and quickly made herself comfortable around the fire. She spoke of her travels and the people she’s met though Viola couldn’t help but stare suspiciously. Was there something about her that Viola wasn’t seeing? What exactly was she? 

Amy and Maelys had soon gone to sleep. Shirin had volunteered to keep the first watch over the campsite. Viola laid in her cot but she couldn’t sleep. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she brought her orb close to her before getting up and walking over to Shirin, who only quietly watched Viola with confusion. Viola knelt down beside her facing her directly and holding her orb before her. 

“You radiate the energies of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur,” Viola stated matter-of-factly, though in a quiet voice so as not to wake the other two. “I want to know why that is.” She stated bluntly. Shirin’s eyebrows raised somewhat and she appeared mildly impressed.

“You know about Soul Calibur and Soul Edge…?” she asked rhetorically before shrugging. “Well if I’m being honest I’m not really sure how it’s possible. But I’m not malfested if you’re worried about that,” she admitted nonchalantly. Viola pondered this for a moment before deciding to speak again. 

“I see...well then...you wouldn’t happen to know anything about astral fissures, would you?”

Chapter Text

Viola decided to tell her story to Shirin. She told her about the war, and how Nightmare, Graf Dumas, had fallen. She explained how Pyrrha had opened the astral fissures and how she herself had fallen into one of them. She explained her encounter with Zasalamel and everything he had told her that night in the forest. To Viola’s surprise, Shirin was listening to her attentively, not at all seeming to doubt her words. She was silent as she listened, nodding along as the story went on and her facial expression changing accordingly depending on what part of the story she was on. Shirin’s eyebrows raised and then knit into a small frown toward the end at the mention of Zasalamel’s name. 

“Zasalamel told you all that, huh?” Shirin finally spoke as she sat back, her hands planted behind her on the grass. 

“Yes...is he...wrong…?” Viola inquired cautiously, earning her a head shake from Shirin.

“No, that’s all right. But Zasalamel…” she paused and she closed her light blue eyes and pressed her lips together in contemplation for a moment before speaking again. “...he’s a pretty hard guy to read. And he doesn’t exactly help people out of the kindness in his heart,” she admitted as she looked back at Viola. Viola thought back to the conversation she had with him and decided that what Shirin described made a lot of sense to her. But then it begged the question, why did he tell her all that he did? “He’s pretty self serving, if he’s helping you, it’s probably because there is something he has to gain out of it,” Shirin warned. Viola pondered this for a moment before turning back to the other woman. 

“How do you know all this about him?”

“It’s a long story,” Shirin responded as she shifted her position, adjusting her brown skirt over her lap before bringing her knees up to her chest to rest her chin on. “I...actually don’t remember anything about my past. And I was about to lose myself completely because of the evil seed. But Zasalamel was there...for some reason...and he helped me get a hold of myself. He’s helped me out a lot since then,” she recounted. Viola’s eyes widened somewhat at the story. This woman and her...they were so similar, both having awoken without memory and blessed with strange abilities they didn’t know the origins of. What a foreign feeling, being able to relate to someone so closely. And yet the feeling was so wonderful.

“Anyway…” Shirin continued after a long pause as she turned her head to look at Viola. “I can help you. I’ve got some good friends working at the Aval Organization. I’ll talk to them and then if all goes well, I’ll help you get back to your time,” she promised warmly with a smile. Viola’s eyebrows raised for a moment and she felt anticipation growing inside her. Finally, something that was going to help her. 

“Thank you…” Viola finally spoke. “Thank you so much.” 

The next morning, Shirin announced that she would be taking her leave but that she would do her best to keep an eye out for Raphael. Viola wondered how it was that Shiring would find them again should she need to but the woman seemed like she knew what she was doing. And so with that dilemma taken care of, Viola decided she would focus her efforts on locating Dumas. 

Amy seemed especially quiet that day as they continued to travel in the back of the wagon together. The girl sat still, staring at the sword in her lap, with the only movement being her hair as it jumped with the movement of the wagon. Viola, too, had largely kept to herself for the day but she found her gaze wandering to the child every time she heard her sigh quietly. 

“Is...something troubling you…?” Viola finally asked in a gentle tone. Amy looked up at her with surprise and then with confusion before looking back down at her lap. 

“It doesn’t matter,” she responded quietly. The line between Viola’s lips thinned at the response she received and she was unsure of what to say next. Viola had never been known for her ability to cheer people up. The girl was just like Viola in a way, the way she preferred to keep her emotions neatly tucked away and to herself. However unlike Viola, who had someone close to her who knew how to coax the feelings out of her in a way that made her feel comfortable, she could only surmise that Amy had no one like that around her. Or at least, not here. What would Z.W.EI. do if he were here now and saw this little girl upset but unwilling to talk about it? Viola quietly observed Amy and her eyes slowly lowered down to the sword in her lap and an idea struck.  

“Your rapier is very beautiful,” Viola commented, causing Amy to look up at her again with curiosity. “I can’t imagine a sword made with such fine craftsmanship was easy to come by.” Amy silently observed Viola, eyes searching the woman’s face before they strayed off to the side. 

“It was a gift...from Raphael,” she finally responded. On one hand Viola was surprised that she had gotten a response but on the other, she felt as though she already knew it would work. She needed to continue. 

“I see...is...he skilled with a rapier himself…?” Viola was so used to seeing Graf Dumas with his zweihander, the idea of him using a small rapier was hard to wrap her head around. However she would keep that note to herself. Amy nodded in response to her question. 

“He taught me everything I know.” Amy lifted the sword up so that Viola could get a better look at it. “It’s called Albion, the radiant one.” Viola stared at the sword before her inquisitively. There was something quite peculiar about the sword that Viola couldn’t put her finger on but it filled her with a sense of familiarity. Perhaps someone in Schwarzwind wields one that is similar to it?  “He gave it to me as a gift. He said that his giving it to me meant that he acknowledged me as a true swordswoman. That was...the last time I saw him before he left…” she sighed. Viola felt as though she was beginning to understand what was on the child’s mind. 

“You’re worried about him,” Viola inferred out loud, though in a gentle tone. Amy retracted the sword and placed it back in her lap before she looked off to the side. 

“He’s an idiot, and I have every right to be worried about him,” Amy responded softly, though with a defensive tone. Viola remained silent though her eyes remained fixed on Amy. She wasn’t quite sure what to say to that, it lacked a lot of context. One thing that was very clear to Viola though was just how much his disappearance hurt Amy. “He...would just keep going on about how he wanted to create this “new world” for me,” she further explained in a quiet voice, as though trying to avoid the potentially prying ears of her governess, the words “new world” being spoken in a particularly mocking tone. “and how he knows about the tool he needs to do it…” Viola felt her heart begin to sink as she listened to this story and someone told her she knew exactly what this tool was that her father was seeking out. “But...he just doesn’t listen. No matter how many times I tell him that I’m happy with the way things are...that as long as we are together it doesn’t matter to me where we are or how much money we have…” Amy trailed off with an exasperated breath and looked down at her lap again. Viola felt torn at that moment. It was very jarring to Viola to hear about this side of Graf Dumas from a child who very clearly loved him as one would their father. None of these pieces fit into what she already knew and she was unsure what to make of it. But for now, she wouldn’t focus on that. Instead, there was a child sitting in front of her who was very clearly distressed about the absence of her father who needed comforting. Viola reached out a hesitant hand to gently place her hand on Amy’s shoulder, causing the child to look up at her curiously. 

“We...we will find him,” Viola assured quietly. Viola was never one to lie. She was often told that she was painfully truthful. She had no reason to lie, if people didn’t like hearing the truth from her then they simply shouldn’t ask her things. But in this instance, Viola herself couldn’t tell if she was lying or not. She wanted to find Graf Dumas out of nothing but morbid curiosity, perhaps even to kill him herself now before any of the problems he has created for her could even have taken place, however now she found herself wanting to help this girl find her father too, and alleviating her sorrow. Amy looked at Viola’s face searchingly before tilting her head. For a brief moment their gazes locked and Viola felt herself grow self conscious and removed her hand before sitting back. 

“There’s something strange about you,” Amy spoke bluntly. Viola felt her heart sink. She never cared about comments like that one coming from strangers however it felt different here with Amy. “I’ve never met someone who was easy to talk to as you are,” Amy admitted quietly after a moment. Viola’s eyebrows raised slightly with this revelation. She’d never heard anyone say that about her before. A small smile found its way onto her face and her shoulders relaxed. Viola felt inwardly pleased with herself.

Chapter Text

“Filthy vermin! Unhand her now!”

Viola awoke to the muffled sound of a man yelling. She had been laying on the hard ground with the sun beating down on her face. A dull pain emanated throughout her left leg, then all at once becoming almost unbearable. How did she get here? And what had happened to her? And what about Amy, where was she now? Viola groggily sat up and looked down nervously at her bleeding injured leg for a few moments before her eyes wandered forward to watch a man with tattered, dirtied, and torn clothes fighting another more well dressed yet still disheveled looking blond man wielding a rapier. The sounds of metal hitting metal rang through the air and Viola sat still and watched, unsure of who either of these men were or what they had done to anger one another. And within moments, the duel was over. The more dirty looking man sank to his knees and then collapsed to the ground, left to bleed out as the blond man turned around and rushed to Viola’s side. Viola stared up at him curiously. He was right in front of her, and yet she couldn’t make out the features of his face. His face was blurred and distorted, as though he were submerged beneath murky water and she was looking at him from above the surface. 

“Are you alright? Show me your leg,” the man demanded of her. His voice was muffled and it echoed, making it hard for her to understand what he was saying. Viola found herself staring at his lips to try and read them. But she couldn’t focus. The world around her felt like it was spinning, and she felt herself growing dizzier and dizzier. 

Viola awoke from her dream with a start and her gaze immediately darted around her to see Amy and Maelys both asleep in their cots. Oh yes, that’s right. Viola was supposed to keep watch over them for the night. She must have fallen asleep. A ghost pain throbbed in her left lower leg and she lifted her skirt and lowered her stocking to reveal an old scar running up the length of her calf. It was a scar she’s had for a long time, predating her memory-loss. To this day, she had no idea where it came from or how she got it. Her finger gently ran along it idly as she thought back to the dream she had just woken up from. Could it be that she was beginning to remember? Was that event the reason she had it? If so, then who was that blond man with the rapier? What had happened in the moments before the event she witnessed? With a sigh, Viola pulled her stocking back up, replaced her skirt over her leg and resumed watching over the other two in their sleep. She would push those thoughts to the back of her mind for now. 

The next morning, Maelys went into town for supplies, leaving Viola and Amy with the horse and wagon. Viola sat against a tree, fighting the urge to fall asleep as she idly watched Amy standing a ways away with her rapier, jabbing at the air. The girl was graceful in her movements, almost as though she was dancing. There was something vaguely familiar about watching them, Viola felt. She’d seen those movements before, though she wasn’t quite sure where. For reasons she didn’t understand, the familiarity made her somewhat uncomfortable. 

“Viola? Hello?” Amy calling out to her brought Viola back to reality. Viola snapped to attention, shaking her head before looking up at the girl. 

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

Amy lowered her sword to her side. “You were staring.”

“Oh,” Viola sighed. “Forgive me. I’m just tired, is all…” she explained. Amy moved to sit beside Viola beneath the tree, taking a moment to smooth out her skirt over her knees before staring at Viola silently for a moment.

“Who’s Zwei?” Amy questioned, seemingly out of nowhere. Viola’s attention snapped to Amy and she stared down at the girl in bewilderment. She had never mentioned that name to Amy before. For a moment Viola had trouble finding her voice before she could finally respond. 

Viola stared down at Amy questioningly. “Where...where did you hear that name…?” Amy shrugged. 

“You were saying it in your sleep last night,” Amy explained. Viola remained silent for a few moments. Her lips pursed as her gaze wandered elsewhere. She wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to talk about him. And yet Amy had already opened up to her. It would only be fair if she did the same. With a shaky breath, Viola leaned back against the tree behind her. 

“...he was...a friend…” Viola simply explained, purposely avoiding giving details.

“... was? ” Amy echoed. “What happened to him?” she pressed on. It felt strange to Viola. She was sure that if she had this conversation with someone she would cry. But she felt nothing right now, except numbness and emptiness. But she would try her best to keep those feelings to herself. 

Viola allowed a beat of silence to pass. “He died.” Her crimson eyes wandered to the side to gauge Amy’s reaction and noted the girl’s raised eyebrows. Amy’s attention had been piqued. 

“How?” Amy pressed further. Viola turned to look at Amy directly now. Through watching how the Schwarzwind members interacted with one another, Viola assumed that it was most courteous to not press for details when one was grieving. Most people simply said ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ or something akin to that and left the matter alone. It felt odd to her that Amy was asking for details so bluntly, and yet she could sense that Amy wasn’t trying to be malicious. She was such a curious little girl. But Viola wasn’t sure if she was ready to talk in depth about what had happened. 

“I think that’s enough for now. Perhaps I will tell you another time,” she dismissed the question. Amy looked at her with pursed lips, clearly disappointed that she didn’t get to hear the story. The slight guilt Viola felt was quickly put in the back of her mind as the sound of shuffling leaves and branches becoming increasingly loud caught her attention. Multiple people were bounding through the forest behind them. A familiar woman’s shriek pierced the air causing both Viola and Amy to stand up with their weapons in hand. Viola’s eyes darted along the border of the forest in anticipation as the bounding grew louder and louder. Through the bushes then appeared a disheveled Maelys. Strands had fallen out of the normally tight bun that she kept her hair in. Her clothing was torn and matted with blood. 

“Maelys?!” Amy called out, very clearly alarmed at the state her governess was in. 

“...they’re…they’re coming…!” Maelys frantically warned before collapsing to her knees. Viola reacted quickly and wordlessly moved to catch her. She silently stared down at the unconscious woman in her arms and a sinking feeling immediately established itself in her chest. There was a pending threat on its way here.

New figures soon appeared in the same place Maelys had emerged from. There were a few large men staring at them with eyes that glowed as red as the crimson moons that represented their souls. Their expressions were both bloodthirsty and vacant. One of them gave a loud wail and two voices seemed to come out of his throat, one that sounded human and the other demonic. The tones and inflections came out in tandem but it was far from harmonic. Instead there was a piercing dissonance, as though someone was dragging the tip of a dagger back and forth across glass. Viola should have kept in mind that it would only be a matter of time before she encountered malfested. She was frozen in place, her mind racing as she tried to keep herself calm. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Amy standing with her rapier in hand, both clearly frightened yet ready to fight. That was right, Viola didn’t have time to cower in the face of malfested like she might have been allowed to before. She had people she needed to protect. With a deep breath, Viola gently laid Maelys down without taking her eyes off the malfested men, then very slowly standing up. Just as she would regard a vicious animal, Viola figured that slow movement would keep them from lunging for now. 

“Amy, get behind me. Your duty now is to protect Maelys. I will take care of them,” Viola commanded calmly. Amy looked over at Viola with a frown. 

“I want to help you,” Amy insisted. 

“Do as I say,” she responded sternly, her voice still calm but her tone indicating it was not up for discussion. Amy stared at her for a moment before sighing and retreating behind her. With Amy out of the way now,  Viola could focus her attention on their malfested aggressors. She beckoned her orb to float to her side and paused for a long heartbeat. Her eyes scanned over the malfested men, who all stared back at her viciously. 

“This is your one and only warning,” Viola called out to them, though knowing full well that it would do nothing. “Flee now, or don’t expect to leave in one piece.” The one standing at the front gave a piercing scream and, just as Viola predicted, lunged forward while erratically swinging his sword. Viola swiped her hand and her orb obeyed her command and flew at the beast of a man. The sound of dense glass hitting his skull reverberated around their battlefield and he fell instantly, writhing on the ground in pain for a moment before lying still. That was the cue for the rest to follow suit and lunge with their swords all at once. One on one combat was no problem for Viola, however there were only so many large men with freakishly superhuman strength that she could take all at once. She did her best, though, to time the swipes of her bladed claws and the hits of her orb while remembering to evade their strikes. Some fell however others were stubborn and persisted in the unorthodox slashing of their swords. Viola wasn’t sure how long she could fight them off, she was beginning to get tired. She also persisted though, and their numbers continued to dwindle. One more had fallen to the ground and just as Viola was about to sigh in relief, she felt a strong yet blunt force knock her to the ground. One of the malfested, the last one standing, had rammed into her with his shield. She moved a hand to her throbbing head as she struggled to sit up. She could hear nothing except for an intense ringing in her ear. In the distance though she could hear the echo of a young girl's voice calling her name and she groggily looked up only to see the last malfested standing above her with his sword raised, ready to slash down. But before Viola could react, a rogue stone had come flying through the air and hit the malfested on the side of his head. Both Viola and the malfested man looked to the side to find the source of the stone, Amy, and Viola’s heart began to sink. 

“Leave her alone!” Amy yelled before throwing another stone at the malfested man. The malfested man let out a menacing roar before sprinting at Amy with speed unlike anything Viola had seen before. With his shield held out in front of him, the man collided into Amy, who was not fast enough to avoid his attack, and sent her stumbling back and tripping on Maelys’s unconscious body. Viola watched in horror as the man raised his sword once more, this time to kill Amy. As quickly as she could, Viola raised a hand and quickly swiped it across the air. Her orb’s glow ignited and it quickly lifted off the ground and flew at the malfested. It collided with his head with a loud crack and the malfested fell over, writhing on the ground in pain and then falling still just like the first malfested who lunged at her. 

Viola sighed in relief before pushing herself up to her feet and rushing over to where Amy and Maelys were laying. 

“Amy! Are you alright?” Viola asked as she knelt down beside the bruised and somewhat bloodied girl. She was wincing in pain and breathing deeply.

“My ankle…” Amy whimpered. “I think I’ve sprained it.” Viola’s gaze moved down to the girl's feet with a small frown. 

“May I take a look?” Viola looked back up at Amy’s face as she scooted down toward Amy’s legs. Amy silently nodded. 

“It’s the left one,” Amy said. Viola nodded in understanding and looked down at Amy’s left leg. She moved a hand to gently remove Amy’s boot, then her stocking. Viola almost felt her heart stop as she pulled the stocking past Amy’s calf. A scar that ran up the length of her calf was revealed to her, a scar that felt eerily familiar. She stared down at it with morbid curiosity before she heard Amy’s voice again. 

“Is it bad?” Amy asked. “You’re staring at it.” Viola looked up at Amy’s face for a moment before looking back down at Amy’s ankle. 

“It looks swollen,” Viola said. She looked over at the still unconscious Maelys with concern, then pressing her lips together in contemplation before sighing. “We need to get you both to a doctor.”

Chapter Text

Viola trudged through a forest trail, exhausted both mentally and physically. So much had been going on that she only now realized just how sore she was. She particularly felt a great deal of pain in her ribs. But unlike Amy and Maelys, she would not be receiving any medical treatment. The conversation she had with the town’s doctor before she had left Amy and Maelys there replayed in her head over and over, and each time it did she became more and more distraught. 

The doctor had given her a look of disdain. “This town doesn’t serve your kind.” Those were words Viola was all too familiar with, and yet they cut like a knife every time she heard them. 

“Then don’t help me. But please help them at least,” Viola begged as she looked back at the wagon holding the still unconscious Maelys and the exhausted Amy. “They’re injured, and one of them might die if she isn’t treated.” The doctor silently contemplated her words for a long moment before he sighed. 

“I’ll treat them. But you must leave town while I do it,” he insisted. Viola felt relief however it was soon mixed in with frustration. 

“I will be back tomorrow to check on them.”

The doctor shook his head. “Three days. Until then, stay out of town.”

Viola only quietly stared at him for a moment, hoping that he would change his mind. When she saw that his mind had been made up, she sighed and turned back to the wagon to gather a satchel with supplies to keep with her while she would be away. She then turned to Amy. “I’ll see you very soon, alright? You’ll be in good hands. Do everything that the doctor asks of you.” Amy only looked at her with pleading eyes, as though silently begging her to stay, however if that was what she actually wanted, she didn’t vocalize it. And with that, Viola left town. 

Viola wasn’t sure what it was about her that made normal people dislike her so much. Was it her eyes, as red as they were? Her silver hair? The glowing orb that simply sat in her hands, not doing anything to bother anyone? Was it her general personality and the way she carried herself? Or was she just cursed to be an outcast no matter where she went or even what time period she was in for that matter? Viola thought she had developed thicker skin when faced with these sorts of things but perhaps that was only because she had been traveling with someone who was met with the same contempt she was when surrounded by regular people. She missed Z.W.E.I. more than ever. 

She eventually found a stream and she strayed off the path. She sat on its banks, then set her orb down in the grass beside her. The water was still and clear. She peered over the edge of the water, down into her reflection and noted the bruises scattered around her face and the tired look in her eyes. She would have given anything to be able to lie down in a warm bed right then to rest. The longer she stared at her reflection, the more she felt her eyes begin to sting. Within seconds, tears had begun streaming down her cheeks and her breathing had begun to shudder. She had no idea why she was crying though. Was it due to the pain, injuries and exhaustion she had received during her time fighting the malfested? Was it due to how unkind the doctor had been to her or the stares the townspeople gave her as she left town? Or was the gravity of her situation, being stuck in a time that wasn’t her own and being uncertain about getting to go back to where she belongs, finally hitting her all at once? 

Viola took an unsteady breath as she continued to cry. Zwei…why did you have to leave me? Her hands moved up to wipe the tears on her face, though they continued flowing. I don’t know what I’m doing. I can’t be a leader. Viola felt overwhelmed. Everything was so complicated. She knew in general what needed to happen in order for her to get home but she was beginning to doubt that any of that would happen. Not to mention the complicated issue she had become intertwined with regarding Amy and Graf Dumas. What was she even supposed to do if she found him? She knew what he would become but would she have the heart to kill him, knowing just how much he meant to Amy? I feel so lost… She shut her eyes for a moment and tried to steady her breathing. Her hand moved to wipe more tears from her face as she tried to calm herself down. Z.W.E.I. usually knew what to say at times like this. What would he say now? She took a few deep breaths as she tried to imagine what he would tell her. He would…he would want her to look back on how far she’d come, doing this whole mission alone. He would tell her that she’s far more capable than she gave herself credit for. 

She still wished he was here with her now. She would have rathered to hear all this in his voice. But no amount of crying or wishing was going to bring him back. She couldn’t allow this wave of emotions to deter her from her goal of getting home now. So after a few more moments of composing herself, she shifted closer to a nearby tree and laid against it. It wasn’t as comfortable as she would have liked it to be, but she was too exhausted to be picky right now. She took a folded blanket out of the satchel she brought with her, covered herself with it and almost immediately, her eyes fluttered shut. 

Hours passed by and Viola awoke from her dreamless sleep. The forest was dark now. The only sounds around her were the flowing stream she had camped beside and the sound of the crickets chirping. Judging by the position of the moon, it must have been just past midnight. She sat up and stretched her arms before sighing in contentment. It was dangerous, sleeping in the forest alone with no one to watch over you, this Viola knew. But this had been the first time in days Viola had gotten a good amount of sleep. She hadn’t realized just how little energy she was running on before. The aching in her back and still in her ribs aside, she felt a lot better now. Her head was a lot clearer. She folded the blanket back up and put it back in her satchel. She stood up, looped the satchel’s strap over her shoulders, smoothed out her dress and made her way back to the edge of the forest. She decided that for now, she didn’t care about what the doctor had to say, she was going to go see Amy and Maelys. 

She put her hood over her head and hid her orb underneath her cloak as she emerged from the forest and she moved as quietly as she could, making sure she stayed in the shadows as much as possible so as not to get caught. She made her way over to the hospital and peeped in quietly into each room until she found the one that Amy and Maelys were sleeping in. Viola took a moment to make sure no one was around to watch before she began to tap on the window. Almost immediately, Amy, with her hair down and wearing a nightgown the hospital likely provided her with, began to stir and then woke up. She sleepily stared at the window for a few seconds as she tried to figure out who was tapping the window before her eyes widened and she sat up. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and walked over to the window to open it, though Viola noted the difficulty Amy seemed to have while walking due to her swollen ankle. It didn’t take long for Amy to open the window and for Viola to slip through into the room. 

“What are you doing here? I thought the doctor told you not to come to town,” Amy asked in a whisper

“He doesn’t need to know I’m here,” Viola replied, also whispering. She wrapped an arm around Amy’s shoulders and helped her back to her bed, then sat in the chair beside her. “What did the doctor say to you?”

“He’s not worried about me, he says as long as I rest my foot it will be fine. But…” Amy’s gaze moved over to Maelys and her tone shifted to that of concern. “He says that Maelys may have an infection from all those open wounds. He sewed them shut but she’s going to need more attention.” The room was ill-lit, with the only source of light coming from the moon and stars through its only window. Still, that small amount of light was all Viola needed to assess how Amy was feeling.  

“You’re worried about her.” 

Amy nodded silently. “It’s my fault she’s even like this. She would be fine if I hadn’t insisted on coming all the way out here.” Viola was silent for a moment as she contemplated Amy’s feelings and tried to come up with the words to console her. 

“Maelys loves you very much it seems, considering that she was willing to come all the way out here with you instead of letting you go off by yourself. I don’t imagine she would hold this against you.” Viola’s gaze shifted over to Maelys, sound asleep in her bed. “She will be fine, I’m sure of it.” Amy wordlessly nodded, and silence hung in the air for a few moments. There was something that Viola wanted to ask but she wasn’t sure if she would upset Amy by asking it. There was a burning curiosity in her head though and she needed answers. 

Viola took a silent breath. “If I may ask…where did you get that scar?” Amy’s attention quickly snapped to Viola and she hid her left leg behind her right. Viola could make out by moonlight a frown on Amy’s face. 

“What scar?”

Viola felt as though she needed to tread carefully now. “The…one on your left leg. I saw it when checking your ankle for swelling. But if you would rather not tell me then you don’t have to.” 

Amy bit her lower lip and another beat of silence passed before she sighed. “I used to live in the slums of Roeun. I was alone there and I had to fend for myself. And there was this slumlord who demanded everyone who lived there pay him a protection tax. The people who lived there were all poor though, so it was hard to find the money we needed to get him to leave us alone. As a result, people got hurt, or died.” Amy paused and took a shaky breath. It must have been a painful memory for her, Viola thought. Still, she continued on with her story. She brought her left leg out from behind her right leg and lifted the hem of her nightgown just high enough that the scar would be visible. “I got this scar the day I met Raphael. He was running away from the law, and he ran into the slums by chance. I misled the guards who wanted him arrested and hid him away from them. Raphael was there to see the slumlord ask me for the money I owed him. But I was so young at the time, of course I didn’t have anything to give him. I was probably seven or eight years old at the time. But the slumlord didn’t care about that,” Amy paused and took another breath. She shut her eyes briefly and Viola saw a single tear glisten in the moonlight as it traveled down Amy’s cheek. “He broke my leg that day. And I firmly believe that he would have killed me if Raphael hadn’t been there to kill him first. He saved my life that day.” Amy raised a hand to wipe the trail the tear had created. Viola felt her stomach churn as she heard the story. In theory, it was a story with a happy ending. However it only left her even more confused about what to make of Graf Dumas. Not to mention the implications of the identical scars she and Amy shared. 

“I see,” was all Viola could say in response as she turned the story over in her head. “Thank you for telling me.” She couldn’t dwell on this for too long, or she knew it would drive her mad thinking about it. Viola turned to Amy. “You need to get your rest now. I’m sorry I woke you.” Viola began to stand up but was stopped by the feeling of a hand gripping her wrist. Viola looked at Amy again, this time with curiosity. 

Amy looked up at Viola with pleading eyes. “Please don’t go…” Viola kept her eyes on the girl and sat back down. 

“I may get us all in trouble if I’m discovered here,” Viola warned, though Amy didn’t seem convinced. Viola sighed. “I’ll stay until you fall asleep again.” Amy thought about this for a moment before conceding and letting Viola’s wrist go, then shifting back into bed under the covers. Viola adjusted the chair she was sitting in to face Amy directly. “Would you like to hear a story?” 

Amy seemed annoyed by the idea. “I’m not a child, I don’t need a story at night to fall asleep.” 

Viola found her attitude somewhat amusing and she couldn’t help the small smile that grew on her face. “I wasn’t aware there was an age limit to hearing stories. The people in my mercenary guild told stories all the time to entertain each other.” Amy considered this for a moment before she shrugged. 

“Alright.” 

Viola was pleased that Amy was complying and her smile widened somewhat. “I’m going to tell you about the most noble and heroic person I ever knew. His name was Zwei.”

Chapter Text

It was the dead of night. A woman laid still on the ground deep in the forest, curled up on her side and clutching a glass orb to her chest. Small spots of moonlight escaped through the otherwise thick treetops to dimly illuminate her silver hair and her porcelain skin. The forest was still, with the only sounds coming from the occasional rustling of the leaves and the faint howling of a wolf in the distance. 

The woman began to stir and soon after her crimson eyes fluttered open. She turned onto her back and continued laying on the ground, and stared at the small star patches above her for a brief moment before she cautiously sat up. Where am I? She looked around nervously as she tried to find anything familiar. She was surrounded by what appeared to be a ravaged encampment. Tents and cots were broken, with the cloth on them all tattered and torn. Materials were scattered on the ground, meaning whatever had done this left no time for the travelers staying here to collect their belongings before they fled. As she scanned the area, the woman noted the sound of rustling had become increasingly loud. A low growl soon accompanied the rustling and she trained her focus on where she believed the sound was coming from. 

Her face became cold and her heart hammered inside her chest when a pack of vicious wolves finally made their presence known. The wolves stared her down with a hungry look in their eyes and saliva dripped down their mouths. The woman was frozen with fear at the sight and almost as if in response, a purple glow had begun to flicker just below her line of vision. She looked down and realized it was coming from the glass orb in her hands and she held it out to stare at it with curiosity. The pack of hungry wolves were not willing to give her the time to wonder what it was she was holding or why she was holding it, however, because they soon lunged at her with their teeth bared, ready to kill.

The woman’s attention snapped back toward the wolves and she stared at them with widened and fearful eyes. But before she could think of what to do to defend herself, the orb levitated out of her hand and flew at the pack of wolves. The orb wasted no time knocking each wolf down to the ground before it returned back into the woman’s hands. She lifted it up again once more and looked at it in awe before her gaze moved to the wolves on the ground. Whether they were dead or unconscious, the woman couldn’t tell in this darkness. She didn’t want to find out either, so she gathered up as much of the materials from the encampment as she could and she left. As she walked away, she kept glancing down at the orb in her hands. Why did it protect me? She wondered how it was that she was connected to the orb. Could it somehow tell her how she got here? Or where she came from? 

Time had passed since that night and she was still as clueless as she was before. A short encounter with a group of nomads revealed to her that she didn’t even remember her own name. They took pity on her though, and taught her about the orb she had been carrying. The orb could be used to read people’s souls, and see their futures. They also taught her how to read the stars, and how to interpret tarot cards. With these skills, she decided that she would try and make a living reading fortunes. However, she soon discovered that people didn’t actually want the truth about their fortunes. When she foresaw death and despair in her clients, she knew that she would soon be forced to leave town. Her striking appearance didn’t help matters either. She was called a freak, a witch, she was often told she should be burned at the stake. But she was stubborn, and refused to tell her clients simply what they wanted to hear. As long as she had a good exit plan in the event of getting run out, she performed her service the way she saw it most fit. 

Another town, and another man angry at her for the fortune reading she had given him. He was shouting profanities at her, and very clearly trying to intimidate her, but all she did was stare back with both stoicism and stubbornness. A crowd had soon gathered around the two, and she quickly came to realize that these townspeople had taken his side. 

“Why are you angry at me for doing what you had paid me to do?” The woman asked, though part of her already knew the question would just anger the townsman even more. And just as she thought it would, the man stared down at her furiously, and his hand moved down to his belt to draw his sword. The woman eyed the sword wordlessly, though she tried not to show fear. 

The man growled in a low voice. “You disrespectful wench…” Though before the man could raise his sword, a rogue hand moved in between the two and gently settled on the man’s hand. 

“Easy there. She just asked you a question.” The woman looked up at the owner of the new voice, a tall tan man with torn purple clothes and messy hair as black as a raven’s feathers with streaks of silver that rivaled moonlight. His voice was kind, yet it held a sense of authority that convinced even the angry man to respect his words. The new man looked at her briefly with his stone blue eyes though what emotion he had been trying to convey to her with their shared glance, the woman wasn’t sure. It was gentle, though not pitiful. After a moment, the new man moved to stand in front of the woman before he looked back at the angry townsman. 

The townsman stared at the new man incredulously. “Just a question? Did you hear what she said to me? She had the audacity to tell me my brother would kill me and steal my wife!” 

“The moon doesn’t lie,” the woman calmly replied. The townsman shot her a murderous look before he attempted to step forward. The new man standing between them stepped to the side to stop him. The townsman looked up questioningly at the new man. 

“Why are you defending her?” he interrogated. “She’s a fortune teller who bewitches unsuspecting people!”

The new man raised his hands up defensively and spoke in a diplomatic tone. “Just trying to avoid conflict is all.” The townsman eyed the new man with annoyance before he sighed and resheathed his sword. He then looked directly at the woman. 

“It would do you well to leave town as soon as you can, if you know what’s good for you,” he said before walking off. The woman stared after the townsman and sighed, then turned around. She moved to the wall she had been sitting against and crouched down to gather up what few belongings she had. What she hadn’t noticed though, was the new man who had come to her aid had followed her. 

He remained standing and simply watched as she fiddled with her satchel. “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you before I got there, did he?” 

The woman didn’t look up at him. “I’m fine.” She stood up and looped the satchel over her shoulders, then bent over one last time to pick up her orb. She turned to face the man though her gaze remained fixed on the glass. An image of a crescent moon appeared to the woman and she glanced up at the man with skepticism. That’s strange…I’ve never seen it show me a crescent moon before… The crescent moon in her orb was identical to the one imprinted on his chest barely hidden by the torn muted purple vest he wore. Though what exactly that meant, the woman was unsure. The orb associated most people with a full moon though on occasion she would be shown a crimson moon. The woman had learned to leave whenever someone with a crimson moon soul was nearby, because they had a tendency to bring despair and destruction wherever they went. She wondered what sort of implications a crescent moon soul had, though she knew better than to stay there and find out. She wordlessly glanced up at his face one last time before turning away and walking around him to leave town. It didn’t take long though before she heard the sound of boots following her once again. 

He slowed his pace to match hers. “You aren’t upset by what the man said about bewitching and all that, are you?” 

“I’m used to it,” she said. The woman was unsure why this man was following her. Typically when men followed her it was followed by an assault or violence, however she didn’t sense any sort of similar intention in him as that. Well then what is it that he wants?  

The man sighed. “I know that feeling.” The woman blinked and turned to look at him with a small frown. What exactly did he mean by that? Could it have to do with why his soul is shaped like a crescent moon? She resumed looking forward as they walked out of town and into the forest. “I’m Zwei by the way. I don’t think I caught your name.” 

“That’s because I never gave it.”

The woman could feel the man frown at her with confusion. “May I…ask for it then?”

She stayed silent for a long moment before answering. “I don’t have one.”

“What?” The woman could hear the shock in his tone, though she found herself tuning his voice out as she slowed her pace and stared ahead at the end of the path with suspicion. The faint ghost-sound of swords being unsheathed rang in her head. “Uh…Miss? Hello?” The sound of Zwei’s voice brought her back.

“Hm?” She hadn’t realized she had stopped walking entirely. He had stopped beside her and stared at her with concern. 

“Are you okay? You look a little spooked.” 

The woman shook her head. “I’m fine. But…” She stared back at the end of the path somewhat nervously before looking back at Zwei and speaking in a lowered voice. “There is an ambush waiting for us if we keep walking down this path.” 

Zwei looked down at her with raised eyebrows and looked down the path and then back at her with a nod. “Okay, what do we have to do?”

The woman simply stared up at Zwei for a long moment. Was he actually taking her fortune-telling seriously and being compliant with her recommendation? Her gaze lowered and her eyes shifted to the side in thought before she looked at him again. “It would do us no good to take a different path. They will simply follow us. We need to keep going, but we need to make sure we are armed from the beginning. They won’t expect us to expect them, so we will have the upper hand.”

Zwei nodded in understanding. “Right, arm myself. I can do that.” He reached behind him to unsheathe a sword unlike any the woman had ever seen before. It appeared to have two extra hilts where the guard would typically be. It was an odd design choice, the woman thought. She watched curiously as Zwei put a closed fist up in the air and then pulled it forward as though he had pulled a quilt off of a bed. And all at once, fear consumed the woman as she finally understood what he had meant when he said he could relate to her experience. Zwei had torn a hole in the air and out of it emerged a large gray wolf spirit with a crescent moon just as large as it impaled through its chest. The woman watched silently with wide eyes as it levitated out of the hole that soon closed behind it and as it looked around with angry glowing purple eyes. Zwei looked back at the woman as though what he had just summoned was completely normal. 

“What is that?” The woman asked in a quiet voice, not taking her eyes off of it. 

“This is Ein. He’s going to help us fight our assailants.” The woman stared up at Zwei skeptically. He stared back down at her with a cautious facial expression. “Trust me. He’s our best chance at getting through them.” She continued staring up at him in silence.

Her lips pressed together in contemplation before she closed her eyes and sighed. “I’ll trust you…for now.” Zwei’s facial expression softened somewhat and he gave a small smile before he turned back toward the path. The two walked toward the preconceived ambush and just as the woman had predicted, a large group of assassins soon surrounded the two. The woman had had her fair share of run-ins with bandits but these men seemed to be much more organized, if the uniforms they wore gave any indication. 

“Oh, great,” the woman heard Zwei mumble under his breath. “He just won’t give me a break, will he?” She looked at him with a raised eyebrow before quickly putting any curiosity she had in the back of her head. She decided she would ask questions once they had gotten through these assassins. With her orb floating over her hand, ready to obey her command and with Zwei’s wolf spirit, Ein, awaiting orders, the two were very quick to engage in combat. The woman was already a formidable fighter on her own, however she would be foolish to not acknowledge how much easier it was, fighting alongside someone. Somehow their styles of fighting, as different as they were, complemented each other. Where one had shortcomings, the other would be very quick to fill in the gaps. The woman had gone into this battle expecting that they each would fight to protect themselves. She found it curious that in addition to protecting himself, Zwei was doing what he could to protect her as well. 

He quickly stepped behind her to stop an attack aimed for her back with his unusually shaped sword. The woman quickly glanced back at Zwei and the other assassin, who had reached into his belt to grab a small dagger that he quickly stabbed into Zwei’s abdomen. Zwei let out a pained grunt and the woman watched with a concerned frown before she commanded her orb to take out the assassin in front of her and then to curve back and take out the one that had just stabbed Zwei, taking out the last of the band of assassins who had assaulted them. 

Zwei dropped to his knees and reached for the small knife lodged in his abdomen to pull it out. He was breathing heavily and the woman could tell how exhausted he was after that battle. A new portal opened and the woman watched as Ein made his departure before her gaze moved down to watch Zwei holding a hand over his wound. The dagger had been small, and the wound it caused likely wouldn’t have any lasting impact as long as it was treated properly. And yet an uncomfortable feeling formed in the woman’s heart knowing he only endured that to protect her. She knelt down in front of him and held out her hand. “There should be a stream somewhere close by. Can you handle walking to it? I can try to clean and bandage your wound there.” Zwei gave her an appreciative smile before taking her hand and slowly standing up. The woman had to do her best to support him as he walked to the stream that luckily wasn’t too far off. She helped him sit against a tree on the stream’s bank and removed her satchel to find the cloth and gauze she kept for medical purposes, then soaked the cloth in the water. She turned to Zwei and moved in to clean the gash in his skin. She kept her attention on the wound and gently patted it with the wet cloth despite the pained hiss he gave at how it stung. 

The two were silent for a long moment before the woman spoke up, though she didn’t take her attention off the wound. “Why did you do that?”

“Hm? Do what?”

She looked up at him with a curious expression. “Why did you take an attack that was meant for me?” 

“Oh,” he sighed before laying his head back against the tree. “I mean the bastard was trying to get you from behind. It wouldn’t have been fair for you to take that, especially since it was me those assassins were after in the first place.”

The woman tilted her head to the side and frowned slightly before she turned away to grab the bandages. “How do you know that?”

“Did you see their uniforms? Those assassins work for Graf Dumas. It’s a lot to explain but uh…Graf Dumas doesn’t like me very much. I’ve been outrunning those guys for a while now.” Zwei fell silent for another moment before he lifted his head to watch as the woman wrapped bandages around his middle. “Now it's my turn to ask questions. Do you really not have a name?” 

The woman looked up to meet his gaze silently, then looked back down and shook her head. “If I had one once, I don’t remember it now.” Her gaze stayed fixed on Zwei’s now bandaged wound though she could feel his eyes staring down at her with surprise. 

“Well then what do you remember?” 

The woman shook her head again. “Nothing. I simply woke up one night in the middle of a forest not knowing where I had come from or how I had gotten there.” A somber silence grew between them for a moment before she finally looked back up at Zwei. “I…appreciate what you did for me today…during the ambush and back in town.” 

Zwei met her gaze and smiled and shook his head, then once again leaned it against the tree. “Nah, don’t mention it. I’m sure you’d have done the same for me.” The woman thought that was an odd notion for him to have about her. Would she really have done that for him if the roles were reversed? “People like us, we have to stick together.” The word us was vague and yet she somehow knew exactly what he meant. The two were still strangers, yet they already shared similarities that the woman had yet to find she shared with anyone else. “Anyway, you helped me too, remember? I wouldn’t have known about that ambush if it weren’t for you. I’d say we make a pretty good team, don’t you think?” The woman’s eyebrows raised slightly at his words and she thought back on their short time together. It was true, her abilities coupled with his seemed to work together very well. 

After a moment of contemplating she gave a hesitant nod. She felt like she knew what he was going to say next, but she wanted to hear him say it. “Yes…” 

Zwei lifted his head off the tree and looked down at her with friendly eyes. “Well then what if we stuck together? We could watch each other’s backs. I’ll help you find your memories and we can come up with a new name to call you in the meantime.” He lifted a hand for the woman to shake in agreement. “What do you say?” 

The woman looked down at his hand, then back up to his face searchingly. She pressed her lips together in contemplation before her eyes moved to her purple orb that rested on the ground to the side of her. Are the stars finally beginning to shine for me? She looked back to his face one last time before she glanced down at his hand, still waiting for her to accept it. And with a single steadying breath, she finally reached out to shake his hand. “Yes…I’d like that.” 

Zwei smiled and retracted his hand. “Glad to hear it. And I think I’ve already come up with a name to call you.” He tilted his head, gesturing toward her orb on the ground. “You look like a Viola to me.”

Chapter Text

Viola watched Amy as she told her story and did her best to observe her reaction to it in spite of the lack of light in the room. To her surprise, Amy was very patient yet very attentive throughout the whole thing. She didn’t try interrupting, and instead seemed fascinated by it all. Viola fell quiet after she had concluded her story and there was a long beat of silence as she watched Amy process what she had just heard. She watched as Amy’s gaze shifted to the side in contemplation and as the lines between her lips thinned, then as Amy looked back at her with hesitation. Viola could tell there was something she wanted to say but that she either wasn’t sure how to say it or if she should say it at all. 

Finally, Amy opened her mouth to speak. “...how did he die?” There was that question again, the same question she had asked before the malfested had attacked them. That had only happened earlier that day but it felt like forever ago. Viola had been uncomfortable with the question then, but now that she had told the story of Z.W.E.I. in a way that she thought honored his memory best, she finally felt at ease enough to speak about it. 

“The two of us had joined a mercenary guild together,” she said after a long pause. “We, along with the rest of our guild, were at battle with Graf Dumas, a corrupt politician who had spent years terrorizing the land and sending assassins after the two of us. Zwei had made it to where Graf Dumas was standing in the battle and he killed Graf Dumas.” Viola took another moment to pause and take a shaky breath before she continued. “He was so distracted by his success that he didn’t notice someone coming up from behind him. She…she stabbed him…and he stumbled off a cliff.” Viola took another shaky breath and looked down at her lap. A heavy silence lingered in the air before the sound of Amy’s voice finally broke it. 

“He…sounds like he was a good man,” she said. “It’s a shame he had to die that way.” Viola silently nodded though she didn’t look up to meet Amy’s gaze until she spoke again. “So…did you ever find your memories?” 

Viola shook her head. “No. Not yet, anyway. Sometimes…I see vague things in my dreams. Or I get feelings of familiarity for reasons I can’t explain. But nothing solid.” 

Amy nodded. “...maybe after we find Raphael, I can help you find your memories.” A knot formed in Viola’s stomach at the suggestion. The sentiment should have warmed her and made her happy but all she felt was cold and confused. Still, she couldn’t let on about any of that so she put on a fake smile and nodded. 

“I would like that.” Amy yawned and raised a hand to rub her eye and Viola thanked the stars for this opportunity to change the subject. “You’re tired. I should get going now. I will be back to see you soon.”

“But-” Amy began to protest before Viola interjected. 

“You need your sleep if you want your ankle to heal. Do as the doctor tells you, alright?” Amy looked at her pleadingly before conceding and pulling the covers over herself. Viola leaned forward and swept Amy’s bangs up gently, then kissed her forehead. She gave the girl one last smile before standing up. “Good night.” 

Days passed and Viola made sure to come visit as often as she could without being caught. Amy seemed to be recovering nicely, however Maelys’s recovery process was going much slower. After a few days of bed rest, Amy’s ankle had fully healed and the doctor decided that she was ready to get back to traveling. Maelys had not been so lucky, and required further rest and care. The doctor agreed to allow Maelys to stay and recuperate while Amy and Viola continued on. Viola stood at the door of the room the two shared and watched patiently as the two said their goodbyes. Amy was sitting at Maelys’s bedside and Maelys was sitting up in her bed with the covers draped over her lap.  

“...are you sure you’re going to be okay without me?” Amy asked. 

Maelys gave a tired smile and reached out to hold Amy’s hand. “I’ll be fine, my lady.” Viola caught Maelys glancing her way. “I leave you in very capable hands.” She gently pulled Amy into a hug. “Give my regards to the young master for me when you find him, and I will see you when you get back.” Amy appeared stiff in Maelys’s arms to Viola, as though she wasn’t sure what to do in response to the embrace. After a brief moment, the girl awkwardly reciprocated the gesture, then stood up with her belongings and walked over to meet Viola. 

They took the opportunity while in town to gather provisions and then were soon off again. There was a strange emptiness now that Maelys was not with them, however Viola knew very well that she was better off staying back with the doctor. Amy seemed somber about leaving her governess behind, evident by her downturned gaze and how quiet she was. 

“Where to next?” Viola asked in an attempt to distract Amy. Amy looked up at her for a moment before her gaze wandered in thought. 

“Uh…I’m…not sure…” She looked around as though the answer would come to her in their surroundings. “Raphael didn’t give me much to go off of for me to figure out where he went. But…” Amy paced forward a few steps and continued to look around for solutions. “...something tells me that we’re close.” Amy turned around to face Viola. “Let’s find the Rhine river and then follow it. We’re bound to find something that could help us.”

Viola nodded and stepped forward to meet Amy. “That’s a good idea, lead the way.” They wasted no time finding the path and then eventually followed it into a forest. Viola felt chills the moment they entered it and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Her heartbeat quickened, as though danger was lurking through the trees. Her eyes scanned their surroundings though she wasn’t entirely sure what she was looking for, all she knew was that something was putting her on edge. 

“I feel it too,” Amy spoke as though she had read her mind. The two stopped and looked around. Amy pulled out her sword and Viola held her orb up at the ready in case something or someone decided to lunge at them. 

“No Maelys to accompany you? Thank goodness, I thought she would never leave,” a man spoke from behind them in an animated tone. Amy and Viola both turned around to face him, a tall pale man dressed in extravagant navy and gold robes, with long purple hair neatly swept back with a matching golden band and a long, well kempt beard kept in a single thin braid. Neither of them spoke, though Viola noticed out of the corner of her eye just how unusually her orb was behaving. She brought it in front of her and held it out to see what it would tell her about him but to her surprise, it didn’t want to respond to her. She looked back up at the man and she could see him looking back at her with a sinister smile plastered on his face. “I must commend you, young Amy, for getting as far as you have. I suppose I stand corrected, you may not want to profess your care for your father in words but I suppose I cannot ignore the great effort you’ve gone through to get him back. Human emotion is rather interesting in that way, isn’t it?” Viola was confused as she watched this strange man addressing Amy as casually as he was. Do they know each other? She then turned to look at Amy, who she could tell was very irritated. The knuckles on her hand were white from how hard she was gripping the hilt of her sword. 

“I don’t know who you are but you had better start explaining why you know who I am before I force it out of you,” Amy threatened as she held her sword out in his direction. Viola’s gaze bounced between the two nervously. 

“Amy…this does not feel like someone you should be brashly provoking,” Viola said in a cautious whisper. “My orb isn’t working right now.” Amy looked at Viola with an alarmed expression before she looked back at the man with a frown. 

“Perhaps your friend here can explain for me,” the man suggested. “I’m sure she can tell you all you want to know about me.” Viola frowned confusedly. “As a matter of fact, I’m surprised she hasn’t already done so.” Amy looked back at Viola with suspicion, though Viola kept her gaze trained on the man before them. 

“Don’t listen to him,” Viola said.

“Oh,” the man’s yellow eyes moved between Viola and Amy and a twisted grin grew on his face. “Pardon me, I assumed you had already told her,” the man said with an amused chuckle as he looked back at Viola. Viola could hear her heartbeat in her ears. Her eyes stayed trained on the man as her mind raced. She had no idea who this man was but it was very clear he knew who she was. And that he knew too much. 

Viola could feel Amy’s eyes staring through her with confusion. “What is he talking about?”

The man’s chuckle turned into a fit of deranged laughter after observing how visibly uncomfortable Viola was. “Here I was, worried that you had disclosed to your former self everything there is to know about her future, rendering my plans for her useless! Yet all you’ve done was guide her through the course I’ve set for her. And just imagine the emotional turmoil she will likely feel once she finds out the truth about you, my dear Viola! Or should I say…Amy.” Viola’s eyes began to sting, and the name Amy lingered in the air and rang in her ears. She could feel the actual Amy glare at her and then step away from her with her sword raised, this time at both her and the man. Viola turned to look at Amy sympathetically.

“Tell me what he’s talking about, now!” It pained Viola to see the child who she had spent so long caring for look at her with such anger and resentment. And it pained Viola to know there was nothing she could say that would make it better at this moment in time. Viola was not a liar. And she realized that she could no longer withhold the truth either. 

Viola’s bottom lip quivered and tears began to fall down her cheeks. “...I’m not who you think I am. All the stories I’ve told you…they haven’t happened yet. Those are all events that happen in the future. Graf Dumas hasn’t come to power yet. My mercenary guild members today would have no idea who I am.” Viola observed Amy’s eyes widen, with denial and self conflict both present in her expression. 

“Amy…I’m you.” 

A deafening silence prevailed. Amy stared at her with disbelief and lowered her sword before it dropped out of her hand. The sound of metal hitting dirt echoed and Amy staggered back wordlessly, then turned around and sprinted away. “Wait! Amy!” Viola called after the girl before she crouched by her sword and picked it up. 

“Oh, the drama! I could not have planned this out better myself if I tried!” the man cackled as he walked up behind Viola nonchalantly. Intense anger grew inside Viola the moment she was reminded of his presence and in the blink of an eye she did a low sweeping kick. The man fell with a grunt and she moved to pin his hands behind his back while her knee held him down to the ground. 

“Who are you? Why do you know who I am? Answer me, now!” Viola demanded, only to be met with the same maniacal laughter as before. The man’s body turned to smoke and he disappeared from beneath her, though his laughter was still audible. Viola stood up and her gaze shot around the surrounding area. She cautiously paced around as she tried to locate where he was. One moment she was standing, a split second later she found herself slammed against a tree. The man held her in place with his body. Her hands were restrained behind her back and her face was pressed against the tree’s trunk. She tried her best to free herself but her struggle proved to be ineffective. 

“You will have to do better than that, my dear,” the man taunted her. “Though I must admit, you had me for a moment there.” The man chuckled and Viola continued to struggle against him. She still couldn’t free herself, and he only restrained her even more against the tree in response. “Ah ah, I am now in the presence of an older, stronger version of my living doll, do you really think I am going to pass up the opportunity fate so graciously presented me with?” A sense of doom filled Viola. The man took one of his hands off of her and held it out behind him and out of the corner of Viola’s eye she noticed a glow. Her orb which had vacantly been sitting on the ground began to levitate toward them until it floated above the man’s hand. Viola’s eyes widened. 

“How…how are you able to do that?” she asked, bewildered. It hadn’t been responding to her at all during this encounter but somehow this man was able to control it with no problem. 

“Do you really think the true master of a tool as powerful as Quattuor Orbis would allow it to turn against him?” Viola’s heart sank at the revelation. This was the original owner of her orb. There was no way she could beat him on her own. What have I gotten myself into? Her mind alternated between racing for an answer and praying to the stars, the moon, any entity that would listen to her, for help. The glow out of the corner of her eye began to intensify and all at once a splitting pain grew in Viola’s head. It soon grew unbearable and she cried out in agony. The pain and eventual nausea only grew from there and she wasn’t sure how much longer she could endure whatever it was he was doing to her. Just when she thought she had reached her limit, a glowing purple cloud flew at the man from the side, knocking him and the orb down and freed Viola. She fell to her hands and knees and took ragged breaths as tears streamed down her face. She took a few moments to retch as the feeling of nausea caught up with her, then sat back and looked up with tired eyes. A tall, dark man in white and gold robes stood before her. He held a scythe longer than he was tall.

It took Viola a few moments before she could register who it was who had come to her aid. “Zasalamel…” 

“It seems no matter where I go, I can never be rid of you,” the man spoke from his spot on the floor as he moved to stand up. “You’ve foiled my plans once before, don’t think you will be so lucky this time.” 

Zasalamel didn’t look back at Viola. He kept his serious gaze on the man, who had created swords out of seemingly nothing and held them out before him. “Do not think I can ignore the crime against space and time that you planned to commit here, Azwel,” Zasalamel said. “She does not belong here, and especially not to aid in whatever twisted plot you have envisioned.” 

The man, Azwel, seemed irritated by this new interference and decided to lunge forward with his newly conjured swords. Zasalamel held out his hand and drew symbols in the air and before their very eyes, Azwel’s movements slowed down, as though he was moving through water. “This spell will not last long so listen to me carefully. I will hold him off, take the orb and run. Do not let him have it. Go!” 

Viola listened intently, as instructed, and didn’t question his command. She scrambled to her feet, and picked up the orb and Amy’s sword in a panic, and ran away as far as her already tired legs would carry her.

Chapter Text

Amy ran through the forest and did not dare look back. She felt empty, and full of emotion all at the same time. A plethora of questions swam around in her head, all questions she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers to. Her pace slowed down into a walk, then a standstill. Her eyes were blankly trained on the route ahead of her and she felt tired. I just wanted to find Raphael… she sighed. She had no idea how she would carry on her mission now after what had just happened, and after what she had just learned. The idea of sitting down to rest and compose her thoughts appealed to her, though before she had the chance to lower herself to the ground, the sound of rustling alerted her. She reached for her sword and cursed herself when she remembered that she had left it behind. Her eyes searched the ground and found a long branch she knelt down to pick up. If whatever was there was a threat, this would have to do. 

“Who’s there? I’m not afraid of you,” she called. Moments later, three large men with blank expressions and red glowing eyes emerged with swords in hand. One of them cried out in an eerily familiar, dissonant screech and Amy’s heart began to quicken. It’s more of those…whatever Viola fought. Amy regretted not asking for more information about these beings. They look like men, but behave like beasts. Their fighting style was brutal but unorthodox. If she had her sword with her then perhaps she would stand a chance but all she had now was a tree branch, there was nothing she could do now to defend herself. 

Except run. 

She dropped the branch and turned around to sprint away, though they were hot on her trail. For as big of oafs as they appeared to be, they were very quick. Amy wasn’t sure how much longer she could outrun them for. A stray tree root in the ground caught Amy’s boot and she tumbled to the ground. She scrambled back up but the men were quickly closing the distance between them and herself. Raphael…I’m sorry… The beast of a man in the front of the group drew back his shield and was positioned to strike her with it. Just before he could, however, a new figure emerged in front of her with a sword in hand to deflect the blow. The sword he carried was a strange shape. It reminded her of the cross on Maelys’s rosary. Amy stayed vigilant. Even though this man had stopped her from getting hurt, she still wasn’t sure what his intentions were. 

“I just can’t catch a break, can I?” the man said, mostly to himself. He looked back at Amy briefly. It was hard to make out his features but she caught a glimpse of his tan complexion, stone blue eyes, and black and silver hair. “Are you okay?” 

Amy didn’t answer and simply stared at him. 

“Just sit tight, I’ll handle these guys, no problem.” True to his word, Amy watched as the man cut down each beastman like they were nothing. 

Just who is this? When he had finished with the beastmen, he turned around to face Amy. He wore a kind expression, though Amy was not ready to reciprocate. “They won’t bother you anymore. You aren’t hurt are you?” 

Amy wasn’t sure why, but all at once she was consumed by emotion. She slowly sank to her knees and brought her loosely closed fists up to cover her face as she silently wept. Her near death experiences, the arrival of yet another stranger she was tempted to trust, the still fresh betrayal she felt from Viola, the worry for her governess, the strange encounter with that pale man, and the longing for having her father back had all culminated together and she felt herself buckle under the weight of it all. And she was far past caring that anyone would see it. She vaguely registered the sound of this new man’s boots as he walked over to her and knelt down to meet her. 

“You aren’t safe here,” he said gently. Amy took a shuddered breath and hesitantly looked up to meet his gaze. “This forest is crawling with malfested.” 

Is that what those beastmen are actually called? Amy wondered. 

“Stick with me for now, I will take you somewhere safe,” he offered with an outstretched hand. Amy took a moment to consider her options and realized that this was her safest bet. She was unarmed, and this man was a skilled fighter. For now, she would do what he said. With a hesitant nod, she allowed him to help her up before retracting her hand. She took a few deep breaths and wiped the remaining tears on her face away as she followed the man closely. 

He led her to what appeared to be an abandoned barn. He slid the door open and waited for her to enter before entering himself. It was dark and musty, and the scent reminded her of the stink of the Rouen slums. The windows had been mostly boarded up, leaving only small cracks for sunlight to come through. It was largely empty, with the exception of a single pile of straw and a few crates. Amy trudged over to one of the crates, smoothed her skirt down behind her and sat down with her hands in her lap and her expression turned downward. The day was still young, and yet she already felt fatigued. The man pulled a second crate up to sit beside her. She didn’t look at him but she could feel him watching her with sympathy. Or with pity. 

 “Tough morning, huh?” the man said, trying to coax conversation out of her. All Amy could do was nod slowly. The man stared at her for a silent moment. “You don’t talk much, do you?”

“...only when I want to,” Amy finally spoke. “And right now, I don’t know if I want to.” 

“Hm.” The man considered this for a moment. “Well if you do want to talk, I’m all ears.”

Amy’s gaze shifted to the side, facing away from the man. “I don’t know what to say.”

The man’s gentle smile from earlier returned. “Why don’t you start with your name?”

She finally turned to look at the man and hesitated for a moment. “It’s Amy.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Amy. I’m Zwei.” Amy blinked in surprise at the man’s name. What are the chances that… “What are you doing all the way out here by yourself?” the man, Zwei, asked before she could finish her thought. She wondered if it was possible he knew anything that could help her. 

“...I’m looking for my father. He left the house almost two weeks ago and I’m afraid something bad is going to happen if I don’t find him soon.” 

Zwei raised a hand up to stroke his chin as he listened. “Why did he leave in the first place?”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Amy responded with a frown. “He said something about going off to create the ‘perfect world’ ,” she sighed. “I know I’m close to finding him but I got sidetracked. Maybe…you’ve seen him? He’s a tall man with blond hair, blue eyes and he wields a rapier.” 

Zwei thought for a moment before he shook his head. “No…I can’t say I’ve met anyone with that description. If I may ask, what sidetracked you?”

Amy’s heart sank as she thought back to earlier that day. It all felt surreal to her, she still hadn’t collected her thoughts about it. Not to mention, she wasn’t even sure how to describe everything she had seen and heard. After a moment of racking her brain, she conceded and shook her head, then looked down at her lap. “I don’t want to talk about it…”

Zwei gave her a sympathetic look for a moment before he nodded in understanding. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” She felt his eyes on her for a long beat before he spoke again. “You look tired. You should get some rest.” She looked at him skeptically, and he responded with an encouraging nod. “Don’t worry, I’ll watch over you. You’ll be completely safe.” 

Normally, Amy would protest such a recommendation but he was right. She was tired. Much too tired to argue. She sighed before she moved over to the pile of straw to lay in. Her eyelids instantly grew too heavy to hold open and she soon drifted off. 

Viola knew she was far away enough from where Zasalamel was keeping Azwel distracted when she noticed the orb in her hand begin to glow in response to her again. Her pace slowed down and she held the orb in front of her. She stared at it with disgust and resentment. The thing she trusted above all else, that had so seamlessly obeyed her every command up until today, had betrayed her. How could she go back to using it now, as if the possibility that it would fail her again wasn’t present? 

It also opened a plethora of other questions in her mind. Just what is the extent the orb could go to? Did it have powers Viola had not yet explored? What about its original master, Azwel? Was he watching her through it? Just how far did his reach extend? And where was Azwel in her own timeline? Was he in control of her orb as well? All Viola knew was that she could not continue on with her orb the way she had been thus far. She willed the orb to dim until it no longer glowed. It was only a temporary solution, she decided she would think of a permanent one later on. There were more pressing matters at hand. 

Viola went in the same direction Amy did when she sprinted away. There was no sign of the girl, despite careful searching. She stood still for a moment and searched her brain for some sort of idea that could help her find Amy. There was a faint rustling distance and Viola was reminded she couldn’t stand around in the forest for long, or else something else might go wrong. She looked down at the unlit orb in her hands with detest, though part of her knew that this was the fastest solution she had to finding where Amy went. Or rather, where Amy would go. With a conceding sigh, she held the orb up and willed it to glow once more. This is the last time, she promised herself before staring into it. The image of Amy from behind appeared to her from within the orb. She was walking with a man Viola couldn’t make out given the angle the vision was at. Viola frowned at the sight. Had Amy been taken captive? Was this man working with Azwel? Viola continued to watch as they exited the forest and made their way to an abandoned barn. She knew where she had to go now. She extinguished the orb’s glow, placed the orb in her satchel, and followed the path her vision had set for her. Hold on, Amy. Just wait for me, I’m coming. 

Viola found an old abandoned barn that was identical to the one in her vision. The sky had gone from sunny to overcast during her time in the forest, and she could hear the sounds of thunder rolling in the distance. Rain began pouring down on her as she approached the barn. The windows had been boarded up, making it difficult to see inside. She would have to simply go in blind. She walked over to the doors of the barn and carefully slid them open as quietly as she could. Her heart felt caught in her throat at the sight of Amy laying on the pile of straw. The man from her vision was sitting close by with his back turned toward Viola. She glared at him for a moment, then brought Amy’s sword up and quietly approached him from behind. Once close enough, she swiftly brought the blade up to his neck and held it there. 

“You will pay for whatever it is you’ve done to her,” she said with a grim tone. The man sat up at the feeling of the cold sharp metal threatening to slit his throat and he slowly held his hands up. She watched him move to slowly stand up with his hands still raised, then turn around to face her. Her eyes widened when his face came fully into view. No…it couldn’t be…

“You have my word, I brought no harm to this-...” he started speaking before he trailed off. His hands lowered the moment he registered her face. “...Viola...” 

That was it, that was all the confirmation she needed. She lowered the sword and it fell to the floor with a clatter. She brought her hands up to cover her mouth in shock as she stared up at his face in disbelief.

“Zwei…?”

Chapter Text

Tears welled up and threatened to spill as Viola stared at Z.W.E.I.’s face, unsure if her own eyes were playing tricks on her. Her arms lowered and she stepped toward him slowly, then raised a hand up to his face. 

“...how is it possible…?” she asked in a whisper. Her palm hovered around his cheek, not daring to touch it out of fear that it would phase right through him, as though he was a ghost. As if he read her mind, to dispel her fear that he wasn’t truly there, he reached up to take her hand gently and turned his head to kiss her palm, then held it against his cheek. He gazed at her with the same tenderness he always did, a tenderness that she knew he only reserved for her. Tears were already streaming down his cheeks. Viola couldn’t recall a time she had ever seen him cry.

An invisible force coaxed her body to step forward and close the distance between them. She brought her free hand up to his chest before she raised herself up on her toes and guided his face down to her. With his free arm having wrapped around her waist to hold her close, what felt like eons of longing and uncertainty was finally resolved in a slow kiss that caused her heart to soar.

After a long beat, they separated. She brought a hand up to wipe her tears away as she smiled at him. “Only the stars know how much I’ve missed you. I thought I would never see you again.” Viola wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace and buried her face in his chest. She felt one of his hands move to the back of her head protectively and she savored the feeling of safety that only being in his arms brought her. 

“You’re stuck with me,” he said lightheartedly, eliciting a smile from her. Even after all he must have been though, Z.W.E.I. held onto his sense of humor. “You’re soaked,” he observed before separating himself from her to remove his jacket, leaving him in a simple cotton shirt and trousers. “You must be freezing. Here,” he said as he wrapped the warm jacket around her shoulders. He then guided her over to the crate he had been sitting on and sat her down beside him. He kept his arm around her and she leaned against him the moment she was able to. There was a long silence between them and Viola took the opportunity to thank whichever entity was responsible for bringing him back to her. 

“You made it here safely,” his voice broke the silence. “That means you saw Zasalamel, right?” Viola sat up and looked at Z.W.E.I. curiously. 

“You know Zasalamel?”

Z.W.E.I. nodded. “He led me here, though he didn’t give me many details. All he said was that you were in danger and that you were traveling with a kid.” Viola’s eyes widened with concern and her gaze shot over to where Amy laid, still sleeping. 

“Amy…is she hurt…?” 

Z.W.E.I. gave Viola a reassuring smile. “She’s fine, she’s just exhausted. Poor thing must have been through a lot."

Viola sighed. "It's a long story." So much had happened during her time here, so much she wanted to tell him but she didn't know where to start. She needed to remind herself that he was here with her now, and that they would have all the time in the world to catch up. Assuming they were able to get out of this mess, anyway. She turned back to Z.W.E.I. "What happened to you, though? The last time I saw you, you..." she trailed off. The words were stuck in her throat, and she didn't want to let them out. 

"I thought I was a goner," Z.W.E.I. admitted. His gaze strayed away from Viola and he stared ahead as he began to recount. "The last thing I remember from that day was falling off that cliff. Next thing I know, I wake up in a forest and there’s a woman tending to my wounds, an Athenian woman named Sophitia. She did her best and took me to an inn to rest for a few days. That was when Zasalamel arrived for the first time. I didn’t know what his angle was but he’s the one who told me that I had gone back in time through an astral fissure. Who knew Soul Edge could open gateways through space and time like that? Anyway, he came back earlier today and told me that, in his words, my companion was in danger and that she was traveling with a child. That was when I learned that you had come back in time too. We were both going to come and meet you but we saw your friend there run off, and he told me to go after her and to bring her back here,” he concluded, then looking back to Viola. “I never thought I would see the day you became a babysitter,” he teased. 

Viola sighed and shook her head lightheartedly before staring at Amy’s sleeping form. “...she’s me.” Z.W.E.I. frowned for a moment and looked at Amy, then back at Viola. His eyebrows then raised in awe. 

“You…you found your younger self…” he reiterated before a wide smile spread on his face. “That’s great! Do…do you remember any of this? Did meeting her make it all come back to you?” 

Viola sadly shook her head. “No.” She looked back to Z.W.E.I. with a glint of hope in her eye. “But I’ve learned a lot through spending time with her.” 

Z.W.E.I. sighed. “Well…at least there’s that. How did you get here, anyway?” 

Viola recounted her time from the battle at Denever Castle all the way until that point, and made sure not to leave out any details. She watched his face as she told her story and took note of the various reactions he had to the different aspects of it. When she was done, he looked at the ground and nodded as he processed her words. There was a long moment of silence before he looked back at Viola.

“So let me get this straight. Graf Dumas…was your father?” A knot formed in her stomach and she felt cold despite still wearing the jacket Z.W.E.I. had given her. She paused to think about how to answer that question, then looked back to Amy and shook her head. 

“No. He’s her father. Not mine. He’s dead now, but even if he were still alive, he would not be worthy of my loyalty as a daughter.” Viola wondered if he was even worthy of Amy’s loyalty. The man left his daughter alone purely out of his own delusion, and Amy had walked through hell and back in order to find him. Did he even deserve that? It was unfortunate though. A small part of Viola wondered what it would be like when she finally found her family, and hoped that they would welcome her home with open arms. The more and more Viola thought about it, the emptier and emptier she felt. The feeling of Z.W.E.I.’s hand taking hers pulled her out of her thoughts and she watched as he brought the back of her hand up to kiss it. 

“Who needs him? We have each other. And when we get home, you’ll get a big family welcome from Schwartzwind too,” Z.W.E.I. said with a reassuring smile. Viola smiled back and nodded. 

Viola caught a stirring from the corner of her eye and turned to watch Amy shift and then sit up. Viola flew from her seat to sit beside the girl and pulled her into a hug. 

"You're okay!" she said with relief. Amy did not reciprocate Viola's enthusiasm and shrugged her off before looking in the other direction and crossing her arms. 

"...why didn't you tell me earlier?" Amy spoke in a low voice, hurt evident in her tone. 

Viola gave the girl a sympathetic look and put a hand on her shoulder. "Amy...I didn't know myself until very recently." 

"And why should I believe that? You've already withheld the truth from me. Why should I believe anything you say?" Amy demanded angrily. Viola remained silent, unsure how to respond to her. Amy looked back to Viola with a cross between fear and pain. "I'm going...to lose my memories?" Viola watched as tears welled up in Amy's eyes. "I'm going to be hunted like an animal by someone named Graf Dumas...no..." her eyes widened as she made a hard realization and tears began trickling down her face. "It's...it's Raphael...isn't it...?" Viola watched the girl agonize over her destiny and felt an immense sense of guilt. She had watched many people struggle to come to terms with her predictions and she always felt nothing for those people. But now, watching Amy go through the same process pained her in a way she could not describe in words. She was at a loss, and wasn’t sure how to make the situation better. She looked back at Z.W.E.I. and he, too, seemed unsure of what to say. 

The three of them snapped to attention as the barn door slid open and they watched Zasalamel enter, drenched but largely unharmed after his fight with Azwel. 

"Good, you are all here,” he greeted before sliding the door shut behind him and walking over to meet them. Seeing as there was a new face, Amy sniffled and wiped her tears before looking at him skeptically. Zasalamel took a moment to regard Viola with a nod. “Is the orb still with you?” 

Viola silently nodded in response before taking it out of her satchel and handing it to him. He accepted it and turned it over in his hands as he inspected it carefully using various symbols and spells. If he was attempting to ignite its glow, it didn’t respond to him. Once he had seen all he needed to see, he handed it back to Viola. 

“By the looks of it, it only responds to you and Azwel.” He briefly glanced at Amy. “...and the girl. However, there are levels to its responsiveness. While the orb obeys your command, Azwel is its true master. As such, you will be unable to use it if he decides he does not want you to. That is why you were rendered helpless against him earlier in the forest.” Viola turned this information over in her head, then looked down at the vacant orb in her hands with sadness. She refused to allow the orb to betray her again, and yet she didn’t want to give it up. Is it silly of me to be so upset over a ball of glass? she wondered to herself. It had been her constant companion, and had provided her with so much good. And yet knowing that it originally belonged to someone as dastardly as Azwel, that he could have used it against her whenever he wanted, that he possibly has already used it against her, made Viola’s stomach turn. With a steadying deep breath, she forced herself to step away from everyone else, then raised the orb above her head, and threw it down as hard as she could. The orb crackled and sparked, then fell apart into large pieces of jagged glass. 

Z.W.E.I. stared at Viola with disbelief. “Viola…you didn’t have to do that…we could have thought of something else.”

Viola shook her head as she gathered up the pieces to put back in her satchel. “It’s safer this way.” He will never use it against me again, she thought to herself. And yet, she felt herself inwardly mourning what felt like the loss of a friend.

“I have spoken to my contact within the Aval Organization and they have agreed to open up another Astral Fissure for you to cross through back to your time,” Zasalamel recaptured their attention. “They have chosen a spot on the bank of the Rhine River as a neutral location to meet them. It should only be a short trek from here.” 

“Hold on,” Amy interjected. “I’m not going anywhere with them.” She glared back at Viola and Z.W.E.I. 

Zasalamel sighed. “There is safety in numbers, little one. My business is with them, not with you, so I will not tell you what to do or where to go. However if you decide to go off on your own then I cannot ensure you any protection if the malfested go after you.” Amy remained silent to ponder this. 

“We can’t thank you enough,” Z.W.E.I. said earnestly. Zasalamel shook his head. 

“This was just one of the many tasks that comes with the burden of being a timekeeper, nothing more and nothing less. I cannot interfere anymore, so the rest will be up to you two.” And with that, the man turned to leave the barn, leaving Viola, Z.W.E.I., and Amy alone. The rain continued to beat on the roof of the barn, and yet it felt as though the dark clouds had seeped in through the cracks of its walls.

Chapter Text

Amy felt numb as she watched Viola and Zwei converse with this newcomer, someone who also seemed to be in on everything that’s been going on. Does everyone know except me? And just as swiftly as he came in, he was gone, leaving her in silence once again with Viola, Zwei, and her own thoughts. Everything was happening so fast, it made her head spin. And it didn’t seem to want to slow down enough for her to be able to process things either. What was she supposed to do now? Where was she supposed to go from here? She still wanted to find Raphael but then what? What was she supposed to do knowing what he would eventually become? 

Amy looked up to see Viola standing in front of her, looking down at her apologetically. “Amy…” Their gazes met for a brief moment before Amy silently looked to the side, still just as hurt as she had been when she woke up. She felt Viola’s eyes watching her, trying their best to get her attention, and then heard an audible sigh when she refused to look back. “I’m sorry. The last thing I ever wanted was to hurt you, or get you involved with burdens that are not yours to bear.” 

As Amy listened, her eyes began to sting and tears began to run down her cheeks again. She wasn’t sure to respond to Viola yet. Evident by the fact that Viola had tried to hide the truth from her for so long, Amy had no trouble believing her statement. And yet, did it even matter at this point? She hadn’t meant for it to happen, but how was an apology going to make any of this better? 

“...I’m not mad that you didn’t tell me…” Amy confessed after a long moment. Viola frowned at the confession. “It’s just…all those stories you’ve told me about yourself…I don’t…” Amy tried to explain but the words were caught in her throat. 

After a brief moment Viola nodded in understanding. “You don’t want to live my life.” Amy finally looked at Viola and sadly nodded. 

“There is something you need to know. Over the many years I have been telling fortunes, I have come to learn that no one’s future is set in stone. A fortune is merely the outcome of the path you are on. If you alter your path, then your future will be altered as well. Don't you see? You have the power to influence your future however you see fit.” Amy took a moment to consider this concept, though she remained silent. Viola’s explanation sounded like it made sense, though admittedly Amy didn’t know enough about the subject to argue with it either. 

Viola’s eyes softened and she hesitated before putting a hand on Amy’s shoulders. “Of course I don’t want you to have to endure all the hardship that I’ve endured. Perhaps…perhaps there is a reason I was brought here. Perhaps the reason I was brought back to this point in time is so that you know what is to come. And so that you can use that knowledge to avoid it." Amy felt a shimmer of hope at the suggestion that was quickly extinguished by a feeling of uncertainty. 

"...and how would I do that?" Amy finally spoke. "You don't know how you became the way you are. How am I supposed to know where the path I'm on will take me?"

Viola pressed her lips together and thought for a moment. "You're right, I don't know exactly how I became this way. But after today, I believe I may at least know who is responsible." Viola had Amy's full attention. "That man in the forest earlier today, Azwel. I believe that he is to blame. To have the best outcome, you and Raphael need to stay away from him. I cannot instruct Raphael on how to achieve the best outcome so you need to take it upon yourself to keep him safe." This was something Amy resonated with. "You've already gone above and beyond trying to find him and bring him home. Do you think this is a path you can stay on?"

Amy pondered Viola’s words one last time and searched her brain for any further questions she could ask. After realizing that she had none, and that she had a plan of action now, Amy gave a firm yet silent nod, then raised an arm to wipe her tears away. Viola seemed pleased that Amy had become agreeable once again. She let go of Amy’s shoulder though she continued to watch her with hesitation in her eye. Amy could tell that Viola had something she wanted to say though she wasn’t sure how to say it. 

Viola lowered her gaze. “...I don’t want to leave you.” Amy’s eyebrows knit as she felt her heart sink. It was a feeling she had only felt once before, when she learned that Raphael would be leaving on his trip. 

“Then don’t,” Amy responded. Even after all the two had been through that day, Amy couldn’t find it within herself to stop caring about Viola. She wasn’t sure if it was simply the fact that they were the same person or if it was because of something else entirely but the bond she established with Viola was one could have never predicted. She even found herself wondering if this was what it felt like to have a mother or an older sister.

Viola shook her head. “I can’t stay where I don’t belong. My life, the people I care about…I have to go back to them.” She looked back up at Amy with sad eyes. “This may be my only chance to do that.” 

It was Amy’s turn to be hesitant before finally stepping forward to embrace Viola. Viola readily reciprocated and held her close, with one arm around Amy’s shoulders and the other gently holding the back of her head. If she hadn’t spent so much time crying earlier, she might have cried now here in Viola’s arms. Instead, the two held each other in silence. 

Once they separated, Amy looked up at Viola. “I’ve decided I’m coming to see you off.” 

Viola smiled at Amy. “We would be more than happy to have you there with us.” 

Just as Zasalamel had said, the trek to where the Aval were waiting for them was short. They were all thankful that it was also uneventful, with no other surprises waiting for them. To Amy’s surprise, Shirin was the one who had come to greet them as they arrived. A handful of purple-clad knights stood guard as what Amy could only describe as a large tear formed in the space before them. She couldn’t clearly see what was inside of the tear, all she could make out were the harshly glowing red, orange, and violet hues that were swirling around each other. Amy felt as though she had more questions now but something told her she wouldn’t get answers to any of them if she asked. The knights around them already seemed bothered that she was there in the first place. 

Amy said her last goodbyes to Viola and Zwei and watched as the crack resealed itself behind them. 

“Alright, boys, our job here is done,” Shirin said with enthusiasm before turning to Amy. “I’ll see you around, okay? Good luck finding Raphael.” And with that, Shirin and the knights had departed, leaving Amy at the bank of the Rhine river by herself. She stared out at the flowing water for a long moment before taking a deep breath and beginning to walk. Amy was used to being alone, but she felt empty now that she didn’t have companions to walk with her. She already missed Viola but at least this was where Amy wanted to go anyway. She was taking the exact course she had wanted to take, and her intuition told her that if she followed this river then she would find something that would lead her to Raphael. 

As she walked, an eerily familiar sensation slowly grew inside her. When the feeling became too strong to ignore she felt a stone settle in her stomach and her skin begin to crawl. There was someone who was either following her or watching her from afar. Amy unsheathed her sword and quickly turned around to face her stalker, only to be met with the serene view of the path she had just taken. It was only when she turned back around that she jumped with a start. 

“Alone at last,” Azwel spoke with an annoyingly flamboyant tone. He stepped toward her and gave her a sinister smile, and she took a subconscious step back as she pointed her sword at him with a shaky hand. 

“Stay away from me, filth,” Amy scorned. 

“Oh, but I was so looking forward to catching up with you,” he said as he took a taunting step forward. Amy could tell he was toying with her. She could see it in his eye the thrill he got knowing she was afraid of him. I need to stay strong. 

“You’ll get nothing from me,” she replied, her tone unamused. 

“Is that any way to speak to an old friend? Oh dear. I must have a word with my dear friend Raphy about this, perhaps he can straighten out this hostile attitude of yours.” Amy’s eyes widened at the mention of Raphael and her shocked expression very quickly became fury. 

“If you dare lay a finger on him…” Amy threatened, only to be met with hysterical laughter. 

“I never tire watching the emotional dance you go through when it comes to your loved ones! Your eyes show so much anger and passion, you have to physically restrain yourself from lashing out. Perhaps that is the only thing that separates you from a feral beast, your ability to be so calculated alongside your readiness to cut down those you see as your enemies. It’s so delicious to observe! However just because you are ready to cut others down does not mean you will succeed at doing so. Perhaps that is a lesson we can learn right now,” he suggested with a smug grin. 

Amy stayed cemented to her spot for a long moment as she went through options in her head. She had no idea what this man was capable of, but if his mere presence was enough to chill her to the bone then he must be very powerful. She couldn’t stay here. She needed to run. 

She bolted away into the nearest thicket in hopes of losing him through the trees, though every corner she turned, he was there waiting for her. No matter how many times she turned to run the opposite direction, no matter how many turns she made to try and throw him off, she could not get rid of him. Her breathing had become heavy as she grew tired from running. Eventually, she had to stop and catch her breath, though she tried to remain alert. Azwel’s echoing maniacal laughter in the distance was all she needed to know that he was still looking for her.

What happened next happened so quickly that Amy was unsure how to describe it. All she knew was that now she was being restrained against a tree with her arms above her head. Her wrists were being held tightly by gauntleted hands that belonged to someone standing on the other side of the tree. Amy attempted to twist her hands free but was met with his grip tightening, and the metal of the gauntlets digging into her skin. She heard a chuckle from in front of her. Amy looked forward and was completely baffled to see Azwel standing before her, his hands completely free. Are there two of them?! 

“You know, I quite miss your future counterpart,” Azwel spoke as he stepped toward her with a thoroughly amused expression. “She was more mellow, and a much better listener.” He held out a hand to tilt Amy’s chin upward. Disgusted, Amy moved her head away from his hand and spat in his face. Azwel flinched and gave her an annoyed look before pulling out a handkerchief from within his robe to wipe it away. “I should also add that she was much more polite.” He shook his head and replaced the handkerchief before the typical infuriating expression he wore before found its way back onto his face. “No matter, we have all the time in the world to learn those lessons. And trust me, my dear young Amy,” Azwel trailed off before his lips twisted into a menacing smile that made the hairs on the back of Amy’s neck stand on end. “When I am done with you, you will be exactly the way I want you to be.” Amy felt helpless. There was nothing she could do now to get away. She thought back to earlier that day about the promise she had made to stay away from Azwel and to keep Raphael safe. She thought back to the idea that if she could just accomplish that simple task, she would be on the right path. The ghost of optimism haunted her, optimism that there may be a way to fight for her desired future. And that was her mistake. She had allowed herself to hope.

Chapter Text

Viola and Z.W.E.I. knew they were back where they belonged when the astral fissure had landed them in front of the Schwarzwind citadel’s drawbridge. Being home now, Viola felt a weight leave her shoulders unlike any she had felt before. It was good to be home now, and she itched to go inside with Z.W.E.I. She could only imagine what Siegfried and Lady Hilde would say when they saw Z.W.E.I. was alive and well. 

“Welcome home,” Z.W.E.I. said to her with a smile. She looked at him and reciprocated a smile of her own. 

“Welcome home,” she replied back. 

“Exactly when I expected you to arrive,” a rogue voice spoke. Z.W.E.I. and Viola looked in the direction of the voice to find a young dark woman in white and gold robes approaching them. She seemed young, no older than about fifteen years old, with her hair long and kept in braids. The girl was unfamiliar to Viola, though her one golden eye surrounded by black markings arranged in a circle served as a clue. 

“...Zasalamel…?” Viola asked with caution in her tone. The girl nodded. “How did you…?”

Zasalamel held her hand up in dismissal. “An explanation for another time.” She walked up to Viola and held out her hand. “I require the shards of your shattered orb.” Viola gave her a questioning look before reaching into her satchel to pull out the shards. Zasalamel silently observed them before reaching a hand out to rotate in a counterclockwise direction. As though Viola was watching the orb break in reverse, the glass of the orb began to repair itself. The shards fit together seamlessly, and the cracks between them quickly vanished. Before she knew it, Viola was holding an orb akin to the one she had before, one that glowed as though it was never broken in the first place. Zasalamel placed her hands over it while it rested in Viola’s hands and after a moment of concentrating, the orb began to emanate an intense violet glow. 

“The process is complete,” Zasalamel said as she removed her hands. Viola frowned for a moment and stared at the orb before her eyes moved to the girl.

“What did you do?” Viola asked. 

“I restored your orb to its original state. I also altered where its loyalty lies. Now it acknowledges you alone as its master,” Zasalamel explained. Viola’s eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face. 

“I…I don’t know how to express my gratitude,” she said.

Zasalamel shook her head. “My services are not for free. In exchange for your orb back, you are going to help me accomplish my goal.” 

Z.W.E.I. frowned and crossed his arms. “And what might that be?”

“We are going to hunt down and kill Azwel, once and for all.” 

Z.W.E.I. and Viola had spent the remainder of the day preparing for their journey. Zasalamel had told them to be ready at dawn, giving them just enough time to eat and rest before they departed. Viola had gone to spend the remainder of her evening before bed at the bank of the river serving as a moat around the citadel. It was a quiet spot she often went to to meditate, away from the commotion that went on inside the citadel’s walls. She watched the water flow as she thought back on her time in the past, and on all the information she had learned about herself. 

“I knew I’d find you here,” a familiar voice brought her back to reality. Viola looked back to see Z.W.E.I. approaching her and gestured for him to sit beside her. Her head subconsciously leaned against his shoulder as they gazed out toward the water. 

“It’s good to be back,” Z.W.E.I. said. Viola silently nodded. “You’ve got a lot on your mind, huh?” 

“I haven’t had the chance to process it all until now,” Viola said. “Everything that happened, everything I learned about myself. What does it all mean for me going forward?” she thought out loud, not necessarily looking for any immediate answers. Still, Z.W.E.I. thought about it for a moment. 

“Well…you’re still you, regardless of your past. You can choose to let what you saw dictate your future, or you can carry on the way you always have. What do you want to do?” 

Viola thought about it for a long moment. “I...suppose I am most comfortable as I am now. I have no desire to change my name, or to worry about a dead man who had stopped being a father to me long ago. I just…” she trailed off and sighed. 

“What is it?” 

“...is it wrong that I worry about Amy?” Viola asked. 

Z.W.E.I. looked down at Viola with a puzzled look. “What for? You told her what she needed to know.”

“I did. But that doesn’t necessarily mean she will avoid what happened to me. There are things out of her control. And I fear Azwel will not relent in his pursuit of her.” Viola grimace. “He called her…his living doll. I can’t imagine someone like him will be easily avoidable.” 

“Oh…” 

A sense of guilt settled in Viola’s heart the more she thought about it. “She will face so much hardship,” Viola said. Viola didn’t wish her life on anyone, especially not on her younger self. 

Z.W.E.I. considered this for a moment. “You’re right she will.” His hand found hers and their fingers interlaced. He then brought the back of her hand up to his lips to kiss, as though to punctuate the point he was about to make. “But she will also meet people who would give their lives for her. Besides, if she's anything like you, I know she will be strong.” 

No matter how long the two have been together, Z.W.E.I. always seemed to know what to say to make her heart flutter. He was right though. If Amy was going to be surrounded by the same people Viola had around her now, she would endure. 

Amy wasn’t sure why she was unconscious on the forest ground or what had led up to it, but when she woke up all she could think about was Raphael. She gathered her belongings and continued on her journey to find her idiot father. She could feel that she was close.

At last, she finally found him. His clothes were torn and dirty, there were alarmingly large gashes in his torso, and his normally golden hair was stained black. The only thing about him that made her question if it was truly him was his eyes, now glowing crimson instead of the gentle sky blue she knew him to have. 

“A-...Amy…” he struggled to say before collapsing onto the ground, and that was all she needed to know it was truly him. She rushed to his side and immediately brought out the medical supplies she had in her satchel to try and help him. But no matter how much she tried to clean his wounds, the bleeding persisted. This wasn’t ordinary blood either. It had a strange stench to it, and the color reminded her of tar. She watched in horror as his blood came to life whenever she touched it. It moved toward her hand and even climbed up her skin, like ants to a piece of fruit left on the ground. She removed her hands from him in a panic and wiped them on the grass to get the blood off and she only stared for a long moment as she wracked her brain for what to do. 

She decided she would take him to the nearest shelter she could find to let him rest. Maybe with rest his wounds will become more compliant to her trying to heal him? As they walked, she found what appeared to be an old abandoned barn. It would have to do. It was dark and musty, and the scent reminded her of the stink of the Rouen slums. The windows had been mostly boarded up, leaving only small cracks for sunlight to come through. It was largely empty, with the exception of a single pile of straw and a few crates. There was something familiar about it, though Amy couldn’t put her finger on why that was. She led Raphael to the pile of straw to lay in and rest, and she sat on a crate to silently watch over him. 

Days passed by before he finally woke up. Amy never left the barn, and made sure to ration whatever water and provisions she had so that she wouldn’t have to. Every day that passed by, she attempted to clean his wounds, and every day her heart sank when she saw that it wasn’t working. People don’t bleed this long without dying… Amy noted to herself. These injuries were out of the ordinary. Eventually, the wounds had begun to heal themselves though Raphael looked far from normal. His skin was a pale, sickly gray color, and he had dark circles under his eyes. With his wounds finally closed up, Amy decided that now would be a good time to try and clean them. That was when Raphael’s eyes fluttered open. 

“Amy…” he spoke in a hoarse voice. 

Amy looked over at his face and felt a mixture of relief and frustration. “Idiot. You almost died…” was all she could say. She wasn’t sure why there were tears streaming down her cheeks now. He looked up at her with a gentle smile. She tried not to show it but his crimson eyes were unsettling to look at. 

“It was worth it,” he insisted in a soft tone. “I have learned much on my journey, and the perfect world I want to create for you is within our grasps.” 

My world was perfect before you left… she wanted to say. But what use was it now? No matter how she had tried to communicate that to him in the past, he never listened. Perhaps it was simply the new hue of his irises but she worried that it would only get worse from here. There was something about the way he looked at her that told her he wasn’t all there, like a part of him was still missing. Amy reached up to wipe away her tears. 

“I owe the fact that I’m alive all to you. Thinking of you was all the motivation I needed to endure my journey. And now we can go home together. But I must ask, how on earth did you find me?” Raphael asked. Amy thought back on how she had arrived only to realize she didn’t remember much. Perhaps it had simply been uneventful? 

“I followed my intuition,” she responded simply. Raphael gave a weak chuckle before staring up at her face questioningly. 

“Your eyes…” 

Amy raised an eyebrow and gave him a questioning look. “What about them?” 

“What happened to them? They were such a beautiful shade of emerald before.”

Amy frowned. “...what…color are they now…?”

Raphael stared up at her eyes once more with a perplexed expression. “They appear red to me.”