“There she is! Thank the gods!”

“Is she hurt?”

“Her arm is scratched up pretty bad. Do you think something did it to her?”

“I doubt it; there’s no way there is anything out this far.”

“Are you sure? There are a lot of places that someone could have been hiding in.”

“Were you even listening to the silence when we got here? Come on, help me get her up.”

“It’s just creepy, you know? Didn’t she once say there was a prison full of the worst people in the worlds out here?”

“This is obviously it, but it’s empty, Elysewhyr.”

“Then what is she doing here?”

“You know how she gets. She sees things that aren’t actually there, and... Oh, just let go. I’ll carry her on my own.”

“It’s not my fault I’m a Fairy, Lucelle! ...So, about Em...”

“What about her?”

“I- w-well, I just- er, she doesn’t tell me anything personal about her. What’s... wrong?”

“Nothing is ‘wrong’ with her, she’s just done many things she isn’t proud of. You know, come to think of it, I’ve never actually been here before. She said I was here, but I can’t, for the life of me, remember it.”

“She mentioned that once before, how you got all angry because you were shot.”

“That’s the thing, though. I would remember being here. I would remember at least one detail. Plus, the Void does that weird magic stuff to you and it changes you.”

“Eugh, don’t freak me out any more than I already am. So, it never changed you?”

“Don’t I look like a regular Demon to you?”

“Uh, I guess. Why would she lie about putting you here?”

“...Maybe it’s for herself.”

“Herself?”

“She wants to believe she has prisoners here. I don’t think she can come to grips with the fact that she’s killed everyone she’s ever had here, in one way or another.”

“Wait, wait, wait... She used a whole bunch of people from here to kill Akan and her mother, don’t you remember that?”

“Of course, I remember that, but don’t you see it, Elysewhyr? They were fake, all of them. Don’t you notice how they all appear out of nowhere when she starts her rampages, then they all disappear as soon as she’s done?”

“That can’t be possible. What about the three sisters she mumbles about?”

“Huh? Oh, them. I think she created those women because of her guilt from being in Ulla’s body.”

“Allu’s.”

“Right. So, yeah, I don’t know why she came here, but I think it’s just one of her little episodes again.”

“...I feel kind of bad for her. Just imagine how bad it must feel to try so, so hard to be as good as you can, but have to force your hand when you’re threatened?”

“She never started lashing out at Descentian deities until you got hurt and she had to fight one.”

“I admire her, you know? She bears so many burdens, but would do anything for us if we asked.”

“Quiet, Elysewhyr. She’s going to wake up soon.”

“Ugh, how can you tell?”

“Magic, now shush.”

My eyes open before I realize I’m awake. I’m being cradled in the arms of some- Oh, it’s Lucelle. She must have been there when Algathan attacked, but why am I not bleeding anymore? I feel fine, but my right wrist is extremely painful right now. I look up at her and sigh, “Always there when I need you, Lucy.”

She gives a half-hearted smile down at me, then looks back up. “What were you doing in there?”

“I...” She must have seen the bodies. “I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt by them, so I had to.” Lucelle looks to her right, so I slightly lift myself up and I see Elyse there, but she looks confused. “You, too? I’m sorry you had to see all of that, Ellie.”

She looks at me for a few moments with the same expression, then smiles and waves it off. “Don’t worry about it, Em. We wanted to make sure you were alright, is all.”

“I can walk on my own, Lucelle,” I say to her, but she keeps me in her arms. I guess she just wants it to be like the old times. Poor Lucy. “Thank you two for coming by. I don’t think I would have made it if you didn’t scare it off.”

“Scare wha-” Elyse begins to ask, but is shushed by Lucelle.

“What do you mean?” I inquire, because I’m pretty sure she meant to ask ‘Scare what off?’ “You saw it, right? Algathan, the beast?”

“Emily,” Lucelle says before looking down at me, her eyes seeming a bit too blue for their normal appearance. “Relax and rest for us.” As she speaks softly to me, I feel myself tiring quickly.

“Oh, uh... Uh huh, I’ll get some sleep,” I manage, and my eyelids close once more.

“I told you to be quiet.”

“She saw something out there, though-”

“That something isn’t real, Elyse. She’s tried to show us ‘it’ before, but it just doesn’t exist.”

“...Oh. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...”

“Yes, she’s unstable. You’ve never heard what she says in her sleep? How she can’t ever manage to go a full night without having a nightmare? It’s why we’ve been letting her spend more time with her goddess.”

“That’s why you haven’t been talking to her? Does Goddess Yhannason know about all this?”

“I’m sure she understands how she is. I don’t know, I just really hope Emily can eventually resolve all those pent up issues in her mind.”

“Have you tried talking to her about it?”

“She doesn’t have it. For example, Elyse, Algathan, to her, is a big-skulled, naked beast that forces her to dream of things she’s done to people in the past. The only way I can see it is by her sharing some kind of picture in my head, but her memories are clean of anything like that- I’ve checked multiple times. I’ve been with her for many years, and I’ve just had to accept that she’s injured herself one too many times to have a normal mind anymore.”

“...I wish there was something we could do about it.”

“Let her stay with Yhannason. Clearly, we aren’t helping at all.”

“I guess. Where are you staying now, Lucelle?”

“The fortress. It just so happens that my room is still intact and how it was before, so I thought I would just make my home there for the time being.”

“Is that where we are going now?”

“Yes, but we need to see Yhannason first. I want Emily back with her before something bad happens here.”

“We’re leaving here? Good. The Void freaks me out, Luce.”

“Baby.”