With the Twin Moons shining in the starry sky and the chill of the ill-omen channeled by her Baptism in Ruins, Tristessa walked north along the Meridion Highway. Alone, surrounded by the ominous darkness of the forest the road passed through, lost in thought.

Even with her hands in her pockets, they remained restless after having seen the bestial and monstrous figure of Karla Luchie in front of her. A vicious bite or a swipe of those sword-like claws away from returning to the beginning of a new loop. It had been a risky gamble that fortunately ended for the best.

"There was no other alternative. The only way to convince Madame Luchie to help me," she thought, still feeling the pain in her fingers from the stinging touch of the old woman's as they formed the pact. "Crywolf… If I keep my word, one day I'll have to go there. What kind of nightmares will I find there? And in the territory dominated by the Shadow Realm… The Dead End King, Alastor. A formidable enemy, of the likes of Moebius."

Just thinking about it made fear proliferate. A fear fueled by that gloomy environment. The wandering of deceitful and vile critters could be heard from the shadows, the roars of dangerous beasts in the distance, and the haunting sound of the wind rustling the treetops.

She was aware of what lurked in the darkness; rusted daggers and unbound greed that hoped to find a helpless victim. But even knowing about it, there was no way to assuage that terror. Knowing the future guaranteed nothing, as the tiniest change could result in unwanted alterations to the future she had known.

Chaos paving a new path where everyone she cared about could find herself on a collision course with Death. Even her… Like that very moment, when a hand appeared from the shadows of the night and tightened its fingers around her neck.

"AH…!" Tristessa didn't even have time to take a deep breath before her respiratory passages were blocked and that hand guided her to the nearest tree, slamming her back and the back of her head against the uneven, hard trunk. "UGH!"

Emerging from the shadows where he had been hidden thanks to his [Divinity of Shadowstep], Reiden Malak Invran displayed the fury that was within him. The side that every hero repressed or kept chained, to avoid tarnishing the honor of their names. The desire to kill his enemies, to make them suffer for their crimes. That was what Tristessa, with eyes watering from the pain and saliva leaking from the sides of her lips, saw in that cold, calculating, and ruthless old man's face.

"Taking a night stroll, or escaping?" the mercenary asked, his yellow eyes glowing in the gloom like one of the dangerous creatures preying within the forest. "How did you know about Madame Luchie's past? Is thanks to one of your Divinities, Stranger? Answer me!"

Harshly, Reiden released Tristessa so she could breathe. Only after coughing and filling her brain with oxygenated air did she attempt to speak.

"C-could we leave this for later? Cough! S-something very dangerous is com… Ah!" Cornered between the tree and the angry mercenary, her lungs rapidly expanding and contracting, Tristessa slipped and fell on her butt against the cold ground and protruding roots, dodging the tip of the parrying dagger that Reiden drove into the bark. "Damn it, Reiden!"

"Do you think this is a game, Tristessa? Tell me why you did that!" The veteran crouched down and pointed the dagger at the center of her head. His grip was steady, firm, and he wasn't going to miss on purpose a second time. "You preyed of the pain and desperation of a woman like Madame Luchie, selling her hopes of something you can't accomplish."

His anger was solid, an aura of constrained rage that only his discipline was keeping him from unleashing it.

"Do you really think anyone at the Outpost believed you about your intentions to kill the Dead End King and reclaim Crywolf? How will you do it? With that grease-spreading knife you carry at your waist? Your lies only convinced Madame Luchie… Someone who has no choice but to cling to the illusions you planted in her head."

Tristessa leaned the pain-throbbing part of her head against the trunk, wanting to get as far away from the tip of that short-range weapon as possible. The blow had made her slightly dizzy, and Reiden's threatening presence had increased her heart rate. A rush of adrenaline, but with no more fear than she already felt.

She couldn't fear Reiden, not even if he threatened to stab her with that dagger. She couldn't because she knew him to be a man of noble and courageous spirit, having seen him fight against the Dullahan and bandits. After having seen him fight to save her life, even at the cost of his own, going against his contract as a mercenary.

"And how do you know I'm not capable of such a thing?" she asked, not intending to sound defiant, but out of honest curiosity. She was even sure she knew the answer.

"If you are truly a Stranger who owns several Divinities, that doesn't change the fact that I see nothing extraordinary in you, aside from all the Discord around," he replied, not holding back any commentary on his cold words. "I don't sense a fighting spirit, nor a soul that has cultivated a presence worthy of a warrior capable of facing legendary monsters like Alastor."

With his free hand, Reiden forced Tristessa to look at him, lifting her head with two fingers on her chin. He wanted her to see the forcefulness of the truth, undeniable for someone who had fought for years against criminals and worse threats.

"If you were skilled enough to kill a Great Evil, I would be trembling with fear in your presence right now. I would feel like a worm; a pathetic thing compared to you… And the reality is, you're the one who's about to urinate on yourself."

He let go of her and waited for her to say something. The leaves of the trees moved wildly, creating a play of shadows with the false light of the two moons in the dark sky and giving visibility to the patient, yet deadly, expression on Reiden's face.

A face she couldn't lie to anymore out of respect for him, forcing her to sigh and nod.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"…you're right."

"So why did you promise her something like that? You know you've just formed an unbreakable pact between merchants, right? Madame Luchie can kill you for not keeping your word of honor." Reiden stared at her, trying to decipher the enigma in those empty gray eyes. "Why risk yourself for a family like the Mercer-Archeos? You barely know them, if it's true you arrived in Nekrom a few days ago. What are you trying to prove? You more than anyone should know your limitations… There is no way for you to defeat the Dead End King. Not the Lord of Forbidden Knowledge, nor his retinue of witches. You're just a girl."

Hearing the truth hurt, even though she fully understood it. Tristessa could do nothing but nod, there in the dark of the Feydra Forests, and lower her gaze in shame.

"A few days ago, I would have agreed with you... About my state of utter weakness. I would have told you that I'm nothing but a pathetic piece of shit, good for nothing. I would have told you that I'm incapable of caring about others, only about my own skin... That I'm only a hindrance to those around me, and that everything I do inevitably ends up killing us all."

Her voice denoted fragility, uninterrupted as Reiden listened.

"But I can't fall back into that dark hole. I can't... I can't give up, I just can't, there's no chance…" she explained, feeling the weight of her fears bearing down on her. Wanting to crush her spirit and squander the determination she'd managed to muster. "I wish… I wish everything were easier, that I could escape to a place where there wasn't someone who wanted to kill, torture or devour me…"

The tears that had begun to accumulate in her eyes threatened to flow freely, as the flood of all the pain, agony, and suffering she had felt since arriving in that world returned to her like a devastating force.

"B-but here on Nekrom, there is no such place. Everything around me is so dark, and that darkness keeps growing nonstop… If I don't do something, if I stand still, I will die. Do you understand, Reiden? I will die, and so will everyone around me!"

Talking about Death finally made her break. Still protected by the veil of night, the lines of tears shone faintly in the light of the Twin Moons.

"That's why… I have to carry on. The promise, the search for the truth, the search for a way to return home, everything converges in a forward momentum. That gives me the determination to make a difference. I know I can do something, even if I fail… It's all I have left, Reiden," she tried to say as clearly as possible, between sobs. "It's that or… Die. And I don't want to die. No… I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die…"

Her cries, unrelenting pain and secrets untold. The fundamental fear, horror of the unknown, carved into her soul by incurable wounds.

"I don't want to die anymore…"

The mercenary leader had only pity to offer her. He saw a girl with a deep fear of Death, not someone who had died and returned to life seven times. He had no way of knowing, and that left Tristessa with a void inside that could only be filled with infinite anguish… She wanted so much to tell that man the truth, to seek his understanding, for him to know how much she suffered and was suffering from having to keep such a heavy secret inside her. A wish she would never fulfill, without condemning any listener to an existence defined by a broken mind overflowing with madness.

"Here."

Tristessa timidly looked up: Reiden was offering her a handwoven handkerchief, its edges detailed with swirling, circular golden patterns. She accepted and wiped her tears, managing to release more sobs of bittersweet pain, grateful for the small measure of comfort she undoubtedly needed.

"Even if that is your wish, as suicidal as it may sound, you are not going only against the Great Evils alone," he let her know. "Before you can even try anything, our Empire will want to hunt you down for who you are."

"Why is that? Why are the Strangers enemies of the Empire?"

"That…is a good question. Strangers are enemies of the Empire of the Night's Watch. It's something we've grown up with, one of the first things our parents teach us, just like never mentioning the name of the Dark Lady." For the first time in that loop, Tristessa saw true terror contaminate Reiden's face, like a phantom of doom that appeared to haunt him and then disappear. "And now that there is a Stranger right in front of me... I don't have enough coldness in my heart to hurt you. You could be my daughter... No, even my granddaughter. I don't see you as a threat, just a potential manipulator."

"Hey... That offends me. I never lied to you," she replied, managing to smile a little through her anguish. "And as crazy as it sounds, I meant it when I said I was going to liberate Crywolf."

"But you can't do it alone."

"I know. That's why I'm counting on the help of certain people waiting for me in Entrana… I don't know if they'll help me bring down a dark lord, but saving the Mercer-Archeos will be more than enough."

Thinking of Astoria, Auron, and Severus helped calm her erratic emotions, even though those three didn't even know her yet in that timeline. It gave her the strength to get up from the ground, holding onto the trunk with one hand on her chest, feeling the spiritual frost spreading…

"You sound like you know those people, but that's impossible if you've never been to the city. Or is it thanks to one of your Divinities?"

Hearing that question and handing back the handkerchief dampened by tears and snot, Tristessa saw a more than perfect opportunity to push forward, before the impending threat.

"Certainly yes, it's thanks to that. That Divinity grants me certain knowledge, in exchange for something…"

The wind was howling, hostile, stirring the treetops. Leaves fell in a pathetic attempt to simulate the titanic varieties to the south, like a brief rain hidden in the growing shadows…

The night was in its moment of grace, and time was running out.

"In exchange for…?" Reiden was forced to close his mouth and look around. He felt something was wrong. Something was approaching from the darkness, from some corner of the forest, from the end of the road, or even from the space between the stars. "Do you feel that?"

"Yes. It's the consequence of that Divinity I mentioned." Tristessa approached the mercenary and practically leaned against his chest, feeling the hardness and low temperature of his light armor's cuirass. "Are you ready to use your [Divinity of Shadowstep]?"

"W-what?! G-girl, you're quite shameless…!" the veteran exclaimed, both arms raised in astonishment. "And how do you know the name of my Divinity?!"

"There's no time for that… Ugh!" she complained, groaning at the sudden pain that appeared to mingle with the unbearable cold that threatened to freeze her heart. Black ice, frosting her soul and spreading that disease called Terror, came from the darkness that dominated the Meridion Highway. "[She] is already here."

The sound of footsteps against the earth, metallic screeches of armor touching… The darkness took shape, turning into the cloak of shadows that that knightess, daughter of the Angels of Chaos, wore on her back.

Armed with her curved sword in her right hand and holding her own head in her left.

"Reiden, we need to run. Now."

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