Shea smiled as she remembered her mom’s words. Following her advice, Shea held her head high and said, “I’m Shea Haulia. You got a problem with that?”
In the silence that followed, Shea felt as though she heard her mother’s voice.
“You’ve grown into a splendid monster, Shea.”
Her bunny ears twitched slightly. Then, as if even the labyrinth was blessing her, a tunnel opened in the wall directly across from her. Shea shouldered Drucken and walked into it without hesitation.
After five minutes of jogging down the dimly lit ice tunnel, Shea’s ears perked up. There was movement up ahead. She smiled, recognizing the sound of those footsteps.
Past the next bend in the tunnel was a dead end. But Shea’s best friend, whose footsteps she’d just picked up on, was past that dead end. Meaning whatever wall was in Shea’s way was about to be pulverized. Her tendencies had gotten rather violent recently, but as far as Shea was concerned charging ahead at full speed was the only option around. After all, the self-proclaimed strongest fighter had nothing to fear.
“Obstacles are meant to be crushed!”
Shea went from a jog to a sprint in the span of a single step, confident that another path existed past what seemed to be a dead-end. She raised Drucken high and swung with all her might.
“Uryaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah— Wha!?”
Just before her hammer impacted, the wall of ice in front of her disappeared. Drucken swung through empty air, leaving Shea off-balance as she tumbled forward. She almost faceplanted into the ice, but managed to turn her fall into a roll at the last second. She then leaped to her feet and raised her hands in the air, as if the earlier acrobatic maneuver had been entirely on purpose. Her slightly flushed cheeks made it obvious that it hadn’t though, and that she was embarrassed about her blunder. Still, she smiled in an attempt to convince everyone watching that she’d meant to do that.
“Y-Yue-san. It’s not what you think! I did that on purpose!”
Shea glanced around, looking for her friend. Her acute sense of hearing had told her earlier that she was here somewhere. Shea was worried Yue would make fun of her clumsiness, but she realized soon enough there was no worry of that happening. Yue was certainly here, but she wasn’t looking at Shea. Nor had she been paying attention when Shea called her name.
“Yue-san?”
Shea called out to her again, but there was no response. Yue stood silently in front of the ice tree in the center, not even bothering to look over her shoulder. Shea had no way of telling what kind of face Yue was making. But she felt as though she shouldn’t get any closer.
For a moment, Shea worried that Yue might have failed her trial, but a second later that worry was erased. Upon closer inspection, Shea realized that there were two other paths leading out of this room. The one Yue must have come in through, and another one leading somewhere else. Her copy was nowhere to be seen. Proof that Yue had indeed completed her trial. Thinking that Yue probably just hadn’t heard her, Shea walked over to the center of the room. It was then that she noticed.
“Huh?”
To her utter disbelief, Yue looked badly beaten up. Of course, thanks to her automatic regeneration, Yue had no physical wounds, but her shredded clothes and accessories made it clear that she’d just been through an exhausting fight. Yue’s opponent had naturally been a copy of herself. Unlike Shea’s fight, which had been a battle of pure strength, Yue’s fight had been a magical war.
Furthermore, Yue’s preferred combat style was to let enemy attacks hit her and let her automatic regeneration take care of the damage while she concentrated solely on firing back with even more powerful attacks. It stood to reason that she wouldn’t come out unscathed. However, now that the fight was over, Yue should have restored her clothes with restoration magic. In retrospect, Shea realized it was strange for Yue to just be standing there instead of advancing forward too.
Unsure what was wrong with her best friend, Shea hesitated to get any closer. But a second later she shook off that hesitation and shouted cheerfully, “Yue-san!”
“Ah—”
Twitching in surprise, Yue looked over her shoulder. She saw Shea’s radiant smile and narrowed her eyes against its dazzling light.
“Shea...”
“That’s right, Yue-san. It’s me.”
Shea chuckled lightly, and Yue finally let herself smile a little. Her shoulders slumped, and she relaxed her previously tense muscles.
“Our rooms were connected?”
“Looks like it. I followed the path that showed up after beating my trial and it brought me here. Looks like you beat yours too, Yue.”
Shea didn’t bother mentioning Yue’s ripped clothes and instead turned to the passage leading forward.
“Mmm... It was a piece of cake.”
It was at that moment that Yue finally realized what state her clothes were in. Realizing that Shea looked completely unhurt, she blushed in embarrassment and quickly cast restoration magic on herself. Shea watched Yue’s clothes stitch back together and wondered whether or not it was okay to ask about her trial. There was no way Yue had faltered, or she wouldn’t have cleared her trial. But at the same time, it was clear Yue was still worrying about something. Enough that she’d forgotten to fix her clothes and hadn’t even noticed Shea the first time she’d called out to her.
What happened? Yue-san didn’t look like she was being affected by the whispers that much. And I don’t think anything anyone says could make her doubt her relationship with Hajime-san or the rest of us. From what I can tell, the darkness in Yue’s heart has to do with her betrayal 300 years ago... but I feel like she’s not the kind of person to let that drag her down at this point. What should I say to her though? Should I ask her what she’s thinking? Or should I just be here for her until she works her way through it? Shea agonized over how best to help her best friend.
“Shea, I’m fine... Let’s keep going.”
Sensing Shea’s distress, Yue smiled at her.
“Yue-san... Yeah, you’re right. Let’s go find Hajime-san and the others!”
“Mmm... I want to see Hajime again.”
“Fufu, same here!”
Shea knew Yue was just trying to look strong for her, and that caused her bunny ears to wilt in worry. But at the same time, she knew there was no point in waiting around. Besides, meeting up with Hajime so that Yue could flirt with him was probably the best way to cheer her up. Shea pulled herself together, and her rabbit ears perked back up. She strode forward, a new spring in her step. Yue followed after her, and the two entered the newly-opened ice tunnel.
“Do you think everyone’s okay? They looked like they weren’t doing too good when the whispers started coming, but...”
“Mmm... Good point. Shizuku and the hero especially.”
“I was surprised Shizuku-san was having such a hard time. She was always so calm and composed when we were in Haltina’s labyrinth... but Kaori-san was really worried about her here.”
“Shirasucky has problems, so she’s probably having an even harder time than Shizuku.”
“There you go again! Yue-san, you really like Kaori-san, don’t you?”
“I do not...”
The two of them chatted idly as they made their way through the tunnel. As always, Shea was the one who brought up topics, and Yue simply responded. But that was just the dynamic the two of them had.
Yue’s answers were clear and concise, and occasionally she’d even make jokes. However, there was just a slight hint of unease that layered all of her actions. Shea could tell. Despite keeping up with the conversation, Yue’s mind was on something else. Something that was making her act just a tad more distant than usual.
In truth, Yue was still thinking about the battle she’d had with her copy.
“Do you really think you’ll be able to stay by his side forever?”
After asking that question, Yue’s copy had regained much of its strength. Yue’s overwhelming advantage had slowly been
eroded away.
“Don’t be stupid...”
Yue had refuted her copy’s words and tried to force her way through with gravity magic. But even as her copy had been forced to its knees by the power of her magic, it had continued asking her cutting questions.
“Think about it. Why are you even alive right now?”
That’s obvious. Because Hajime saved me. Guessing Yue’s response, the copy had needled her even further.
“Don’t you get what I’m saying here? Fine, let me rephrase the question. Why didn’t Uncle kill us?”
Yue had thought nothing the copy said could hurt her anymore. That she’d be able to force her way to victory. And yet, Yue found herself unable to ignore that question. It cut through her heart as sharply as any blade. Though she didn’t know it, her gravity magic was getting weaker.
“You should know best of all. Your immortality isn’t perfect. It wouldn’t have been impossible for him to kill you.”
The copy had been right. Yue’s automatic regeneration, the cornerstone that supported her immortality, required mana to use. Once her mana was drained, Yue could no longer regenerate. That day, when she’d been mercilessly struck down time and time again, she’d been almost completely drained of mana. Killing her then would have been possible. Dienleed had been more than capable of doing the deed.
The only reason Yue hadn’t asked that question before was because 300 years of imprisonment had taken its toll on her. The overwhelming despair, unending solitude, and pitch-black darkness had twisted her emotions until nothing but hatred and anger remained. She’d convinced herself that her uncle simply hadn’t been able to kill her, and discarded any other possibilities in order to further fuel her hate.
“He... never planned on killing me... from the very start?” Yue muttered quietly as the realization washed over her.
“That’s right. He’d wanted to seal you away.”
Why? Why? WHY? Yue’s heart hammered in her chest. If his goal had simply been to usurp the throne, why had he let a liability like Yue live? The question circled around inside Yue’s mind.
There was a huge burst of wind, and the copy pushed aside the last vestiges of Yue’s gravity magic. It then counterattacked with a barrage of Onyx Blasts.
“Ugh...”
Yue was unable to neutralize them all, and one hit her in the shoulder. That single hit was enough to send Yue flying through the air like a ragdoll. Her mental anguish combined with the physical damage caused her concentration to slip, and she returned to the world of flashbacks. But this flashback was different from the ones before it. Until now, the memories she’d seen were ones she could have recalled on her own, if she so chose to. This was a fragment of a memory she herself had buried deep inside her heart and completely forgotten over her long years of confinement.
“I’m so sor— But there’s no other— One day— someone you can— Will surely— protect— This is all— But please, forget— Love—”
Snippets of conversation reached Yue’s ear as she sped down memory lane. The voice was familiar and kind, but also filled with sadness and regret. It was her uncle, Dienleed’s voice.
The memory was fuzzy, and it was hard to hear over the static. Yue couldn’t clearly make out Dienleed’s expression or his words. But she knew that she was in the room where she’d been sealed. As her consciousness had been hazy at the time she’d heard this conversation, her own memories of it weren’t perfect either.
There was one thing that she remembered distinctly, though. Something soft caressing her cheek. Even though he’d betrayed her, even though he’d sealed her here, her uncle’s hand had been exceedingly gentle. It had been similar to the way Hajime caressed her now. His touch had been that of a father who adored his daughter.
“But what about your real parents?”
Yue snapped back to her senses just in time to see that she was surrounded by five elemental dragons, all of them emitting dark crimson sparks. She quickly used Heavensfall and Spatial Severance to shoot down a few of the dragons, then attempted to block the rest with a barrier. However her copy was clearly getting stronger, and she was unable to deflect all of the dragons.
The wind dragon made it through and sliced through her flank. While Yue’s automatic regeneration healed the wound instantly, her clothes were shredded. And she no longer had the leeway to restore them with restoration magic. Instead, she summoned her own five dragons and had them face off against her copy’s.
“What did you do to me?”
Yue shouldn’t have had that memory. That can’t be real.
She glared at her copy, but it just shook its head.
“What you don’t know, I don’t know. All I can do is force you to see things you know but pretend not to.”
“So then...”
“For example, what about our real father? We loved Uncle as if he were our real father, but what kind of person was our real father?”
“What are you...?”
Naturally, he’d loved Yue. And he’d been mercilessly cut down by her uncle. But though Yue wanted to say that, she couldn’t. Because that memory wasn’t there inside of her. No matter how hard Yue searched the annals of her brain, all she found were vague, indistinct recollections.
It wasn’t that she’d forgotten her parents, but rather that over 300 years, none of those memories had been impressionable enough to last. And that realization disgusted Yue.
“You know. You understand best of all. Just how your mother and father thought of you.”
The ten dragons canceled each other out, and Yue and her copy started firing magical barrages at each other. All the while, her copy continued scraping through her memories.
“Aletia, you’re such a wonderful girl.”
“If there’s anything you want, we’ll get it for you.”
“We’ll make sure everything’s perfect for you.”
Yue’s parents had never once scolded her. In fact, they’d never even considered it possible. Her father and mother had done anything and everything she’d asked. One could say she’d been raised in a caring environment, but was that really how parents should act toward their children? It felt less as though they loved her, and more as though they worshiped her. The only person who’d ever scolded Yue had been her uncle. He was the one who’d taught her what it meant to be royalty, and what was important for people to hold dear.
“Brother, you can’t keep doing this! Don’t you realize what that girl is?”
Yue suddenly remembered how her uncle and her father had always argued about her.
“The church is asking for a meeting? Again? No, it’s fine, Aletia. I’ll take care of it.”
She remembered how her uncle had always been present for every meeting she’d had with church officials. And the only time she’d met with them at all had been when he couldn’t get rid of them himself. At the time, Yue had gotten angry at him for being so overprotective.
“You still remember, don’t you?”
Once again, Yue snapped back to the present. She was being trapped by her memories more and more often. A blast of spatial magic tore the space around her. Yue only just managed to avoid being cut in half, but she wasn’t safe yet.
“How Uncle looked when he first started putting distance between you and him?”
Irritation swept over Yue at those words. Her memories resurfaced, and her uncle’s face popped into her head. Though he’d tried his best to look expressionless, a hint of anguish had shone through on his face. His eyes had looked tortured as if he was struggling with some unspeakable suffering. At that moment, his wrinkles had seemed to deepen, aging him by decades in the span of an instant.
“Ah...”
Another one of the copy’s attacks landed. Blood and scraps of cloth flew through the air as the magical bullet cut through Yue’s leg along with the end of her coat. The copy had regained its former strength and was just as powerful as Yue. It was only after seeing its strength that Yue realized just how shaken she was.<
br />
“If you hadn’t had someone to hate, if you hadn’t thrown away all hope and given up on thinking, you wouldn’t have been able to bear the pain. You’d taken the most logical conclusion at face value and convinced yourself it had to be the truth.”
Yue couldn’t deny it. Did I...alter my own memories?
For the first time, Yue began to consider the possibility that the truth was different than what she remembered. At the same time, her initial question rose to the forefront of her mind.
Why did he seal me away? Because of my special magic? No, I already know that can’t have been it. Was it just one final act of pity? No, confining me in an eternal prison of darkness was far crueler than killing me outright. Then did he hate me? No, I’ve already remembered that isn’t it. Though Yue wasn’t aware of it, there was a logical answer.
Was there something about me I didn’t realize? Was something after me because of that? Was that why Uncle sealed me? Does that mean whatever was after me before is still here?
Endless questions presented themselves one after another. As Yue was deliberating, her copy asked one last, biting question.
“Who are we? What are we?”
“Ah—”
Yue couldn’t answer. Because that answer would reveal the reason why she’d been sealed in the first place. And Yue did not doubt that whatever that reason had been, it was still alive. Yue felt as though a lump of ice had settled in her stomach. Her entire body felt unnaturally cold.
She stopped moving, and her copy’s barrage of magic caught up to her. Rather than guard against it, she let herself be blown away. She skid across the ground, came to a stop, and somehow got back to her feet. Like always, her body was unscathed. But her clothes were ruined. Her precious white coat was a ripped mess and covered in blood.
Her copy walked up to her and said once more, “It never once occurred to you that maybe you should think about who and what you are, did it?”
This time, the words that followed served as a finishing blow.
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Vol. 10 Page 4