The fae Berserker didn’t see the star-human Spell Lancer dash through the mist with a Svartálfar’s Halberd aimed for his chest. Guy hit the soldier hard enough to push them away from their axe’s haft. Up above, another fae slowed the buzzing of their wings to land on a tree’s branch. It was Averyl. The princess waved her Flame Priestess’s Scepter and scorned the imperial with Chastisement, making his skin melt. Guy used his weapon’s shaft to sweep out the fae’s legs. The imperial collapsed backward and faced up at the tree Averyl stood on. She leaped off with the Flame Priestess’s Scepter raised high, and smacked the imperial’s head, cracking it open. Averyl lifted it again, and smashed his face, over and over.
Guy looked at the imperial’s HP.
Imperial Trooper (Berserker) | HP: 21%
Chastisement had eaten a lot of it. Averyl had the situation under control, so Guy moved away from the bludgeoning fae princess and stared at the frightened fae pirate princess. Nijana got up, tried to run, tripped, then fell.
Averyl and Guy stood to Nijana’s left and right while she wiggled on the ground, trying to push herself up. Guy put his Svartálfar’s Halberd on his back, kneeled to Nijana, and offered his hand.
Nijana growled and slapped it away. “Don’t help me!”
Nijana got to her feet and flashed with blue and green sparkles of light. Averyl had healed her HP to full with Starlight Recovery.
“You, too!” Nijana snapped at Averyl. “Don’t help me!”
“I just did,” Averyl snickered and lowered her scepter. “What will you do about it?”
Nijana shook her head at Guy and Averyl. “You two are . . . Ugh.” Nijana walked backward, tripped, and fell on her ass. Guy offered his hand to her again. “Stop helping me!” Averyl ignored Nijana. She helped Nijana to her feet anyway, then dusted her skirt clean.
“This is it then, huh?” Nijana grimaced. “Something nice for me before you two kill me?”
“Kill you?” Guy crossed his arms. “Why would we do that?”
“I stole from you.” Nijana pointed at Averyl. “You too. For weeks I was impersonating you and stole your clothing and jewelry.”
Averyl made a slight frown and scratched the flesh under her chin. “I was wondering why my possessions had been vanishing from my bedroom.”
“I . . . I read your personal diary too,” Nijana said, then looked back at Guy. “And you, I took your Paladin sword.”
Guy nodded. “Yep. You tricked me into thinking you were Averyl, then left me for dead.”
“Exactly.” Nijana backed away but didn’t make it far. Instead of tripping again, her legs wobbled with emotions, and she collapsed to her knees. She peered up at Averyl and Guy. “Why aren’t you upset?”
Guy shrugged. “What’s the point?”
Nijana narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re an idiot . . .”
“Not the first time someone’s called me that.”
“Listen!” Nijana bellowed, her cry echoing through the mists. “I stole your sword and tried to kill you! And you, Averyl, I stole that rank B robe of yours, and your belongings back on Faeheim . . . and . . . and.” Nijana shut her eyes, forcing a steady stream of tears to drip and wet her cheeks. The emotions choked up her voice as she wept. “I . . . don’t deserve your mercy. That’s not how this works . . . That’s not how this works! You should kill me!”
“But we will not do so,” Averyl said consolingly.
Nijana wiped the tears from her face with the back of her wrist. “Why . . .?”
“Because that’s how we roll,” Guy said. “Those imperials were trying to kill you, so I’m going to assume whatever it was you were cooking backfired.”
“You realized you made a grave mistake,” Averyl said.
“You made friends with the wrong people, Nijana,” Guy added. “You found out the hard way what kind of people they really were. It happens, unfortunately. If this parallel universe shit is true, then I’m gonna assume you got teleported to our universe, somehow, and were lost, alone, and scared. You panicked and did what you had to do to survive. You don’t deserve to die for that.”
“I do . . .” Nijana whispered as more tears fell from her face.
“Why is that?” Averyl said. “As Guy said, you did it because you felt it was the only way to survive.”
“And . . . and . . . if the situation was reversed, I’d end your lives,” Nijana sobbed. “It’s the ways of the pirates, you know?”
“Yet, here you are crying,” Guy said mockingly.
“And I don’t know why . . .” Nijana wiped more tears from her face and brought the tear-drenched hand up to gaze at it with a wince. “I never cry . . .”
“Some tough pirate you turned out to be,” Guy snorted.
“Shut up!” Nijana yelled, her voice filled with rage. She pointed her slender index finger at Guy. “I’m sure you cried when your mother passed.”
Silence fell as Guy’s grin transformed to a concerning frown.
“. . . how did you know about my mother?” he asked.
Nijana gasped. “I don’t . . . but . . .” The Bard looked at her trembling hands. “Dianna knew. You told her that.”
“Yeah, I did,” Guy said. “But I never told you.”
“You told Dianna that in a forest on the planet Mennaze,” Nijana said. “That’s when Dianna told you about the passing of her mother, and then . . . and then . . . you told her your mother had died when you were younger.” Nijana looked aside from Guy, twisting her face to recall that night. “And then, Dianna played a song her mother sang, and it summoned the White Dragon.”
Guy remembered that night clearly. Dianna had used her ocarina to play a song, and it caused a swirl of white energy to manifest above the lake they sat at, summoning the ghostly image of the White Dragon. Dianna played that song using the same ocarina Nijana had clipped to her belt.
“Nijana . . .” Guy said slowly to her. “How . . . how did you know all that?”
“I used Dianna’s Soul Crystal,” Nijana said. “I had no choice. The White Dragon, it gave me a quest and it told me to use her crystal.”
“Then parts of Dianna’s memories transferred to you,” Averyl said.
Guy faced Averyl with his eyebrows raised. “Really?”
“Yes, it is a side effect from using a soul crystal,” Averyl explained. “You not only inherit experience points from the deceased but their memories too.” Averyl looked at the Bard on her knees, her wings sagging against her back. “Dianna’s soul is now a part of you, Nijana.”
Guy kneeled to level his face with Nijana’s red and puffy one. A piece of Dianna survived, after all, and it was inside Nijana’s head. It’d explain the look Nijana gave Guy when their eyes met.
“That’s why you’re crying,” Guy said to Nijana. “It’s because that’s what Dianna would be doing.”
Nijana flushed. Somewhere inside her head were Dianna’s feelings for Guy.
“If you have her memories,” Guy said and looked at Dianna’s Ocarina on Nijana’s belt. “Then you might be able to play the song to summon the White Dragon.”
Nijana paused to think.
“Yeah, I think I can.”
Guy gave her space to stand. Once she did, Nijana opened a screen to float ahead of her. Its contents contained the song Dianna was writing before her death. Averyl was right. Everything about Dianna transferred into Nijana’s mind. Nijana reviewed the song for a moment, softly humming its notes to herself. Goddamn, she had the voice of an angel.
With the song in her head, Nijana reached for Dianna’s Ocarina, put it to her lips, and blew into it as her fingers tended to the holes in the instrument. Nijana swayed her body to the left and right as the music played, her eyes shut in focus. Guy recognized the notes reverberating through the wildlands and drowning out the chirps of insects. It was the song Dianna played to summon the White Dragon. It felt as if Dianna had come back to life at that moment.
A dazzling display of white ribbons rose from the ground and twirled
around Nijana as Guy and Averyl stood together, watching in awe. The white energy brought light into the gloomy forest, its radiant power causing the ends of Guy’s trench coat, Averyl’s Temple Dress, and fairy wings to rustle while Nijana’s skirt, hair, and wings drifted about.
She finished the song and pulled the ocarina from her lips to the sight of the White Dragon appearing. Its brilliant white feathers shone with enough light to force the three to wince.
“Oh, Asteria!” Averyl said jubilantly.
“Hey,” Guy said and approached the White Dragon’s visage floating between the three. “Haven’t gotten any quests to guide us lately. Was hoping you could tell us what to do?”
Averyl stood to Guy’s left, facing up at the White Dragon. “Our friends are missing, and the dark elves have forged an alliance with the empire.”
Nijana joined Guy to his right and gazed in awe at the white-feathered dragon.
The White Dragon nodded to the three in a sage-like manner. “I am aware of that,” it spoke, its face twisted with great concern. “However, the sentinels are preventing me from reaching out to you.”
“Why?” Guy asked.
“The White Dragon gave me a quest in front of Serzax,” Nijana said to Guy’s right. “Serzax said something about wanting the sentinels to track the dragon.”
“She is correct,” The White Dragon said. “I must retreat far into the astral existence for the time being. For now, you must travel east. Allow the feather Averyl has to guide you. There, you will find alchemy ingredients to the muddle—”
The White Dragon’s ghostly appearance flickered like a broken hologram.
“The what?” Guy asked. “What do we have to find?”
The White Dragon’s appearance stopped flickering. “Sentinel bots on approach, I must withdraw.”
And it vanished, restoring the gloomy forest to its misty and darkened state, leaving Guy standing with his hand held out to where its image once floated.
“No, wait, come back!” he shouted. “You didn’t even finish . . .”
“East, what is east?” Nijana asked.
“Just another section of this forest, close to the river,” Guy said.
“East it is then,” Nijana said with a shrug. “Maybe we’ll stumble upon what we need to find.”
“And after that?” Averyl asked.
“I dunno,” Guy said. “Maybe try again to call it? Maybe we’ll get a quest, who knows. Let’s just hope the sentinels didn’t kill our only guide.” Guy looked at Averyl. “And apparently, you have a feather that will steer us in the right direction.”
Averyl gasped. “Yes . . .” She pulled the feather from her inventory and stared at it for a long time. “This feather was the reason I left the tent. It was . . . I think it was trying to lure me to . . . the east.”
He stared at the feather, the shadow angel pinion. “That’s our beacon then. Lead the way, Averyl. I think the White Dragon was speaking to you through the feather since it couldn’t issue new quests to us.”
“By the way,” Nijana said. She retrieved Asteria’s Sword from her inventory. The blue and white glowing blade put a giant smile on Guy’s face. “I suppose you want this . . . back.”
He took the sword back with both hands. It weighed a lot more than he remembered, likely because he lacked the vitality needed to hold it. After a minute, he stashed Asteria’s Sword into his inventory. Now, if only he could switch classes. Guy had used his last tent earlier.
He reformed the party to add the two princesses to it.
The Mirror Princess – Quest Complete
Obtained: 3000 Experience Points
Guy has attained level 18!
Averyl has attained level 21!
At least we can still complete existing quests from the White Dragon, just not get new ones.
Averyl held the feather and allowed it to tickle her mind as it guided her to the east. Guy and Nijana followed behind. He held back a grin. Guy was walking with two fae girls at his side, both of whom looked the same, save for their classes. One a Bard with a Cleric subclass, the other a Cleric with a Medic sub. There was no shortage of healing in the party.
And just in time.
Their trek had awoken several Giant Spiders from their rest. The eight-legged creatures crawled down from their webs and stood in the path of the three, bearing their fangs.
Guy smiled and armed himself with the Svartálfar’s Halberd, then looked to Averyl. She held her Flame Priestess’s Scepter as Nijana withdrew the White Espada and kept Dianna’s Ocarina ready to play a song to enchant their powers.
The trio fought their way to the east. Nothing was going to stop them.
Chapter Sixty-Two
Guy, Averyl, and Nijana left behind a vaporizing trail of dead monsters and loot they deemed unworthy of their inventory. The trio trekked to the east and wandered into an enchanted forest full of fireflies buzzing about. The shadow angel pinion held by Averyl was their guide. The strange alchemy item was communicating with Averyl. It was complete and utter craziness to Guy. But with RPG rules calling the shots, he learned to keep his mouth shut and not question the new reality that changed the world.
The trio entered a clearing within the enchanted forest, close to a river carving through the region. Averyl walked ahead, keeping the pinon held in her fingertips. Guy and Nijana followed behind and searched to the left and right for some kind of crafting material. Guy saw nothing of interest, no harvesting, or mining points for his tools to interact with.
Averyl stopped and lowered the pinion. “We have arrived,” she said.
But they were still clueless as to what they needed to find. Guy walked toward Averyl and felt his boots squish something firm. He looked down and saw that he trampled across a patch of mushrooms. Looking ahead, he noticed Averyl had done so too. Same with Nijana as she joined him.
“What the fuck?” Guy said. He examined the squished mushrooms at his feet. “Didn’t see these mushrooms.”
Averyl examined her shoes, its sides a mess with the squashed mushroom’s juices. “Same,” she said.
Then Averyl got tipsy like she was drunk.
And come to think of it, Guy felt a little woozy as the three moved out to search for . . .
What was it they came to find?
“Ugh,” Nijana groaned and placed her hand over her forehead. “My head’s all . . .”
“Whoa.” That was Averyl. The princess lifted her hands to her face and scrutinized them with her dilated pupils. “Oh my, oh my, oh my . . .”
Guy tried six times to look back but kept losing his balance. He did so on the seventh time and looked at the patch of mushrooms the three walked on. His face brightened with an intoxicated grin. “Oh . . . shit, I think it was them uh, shrooms back there.”
Nijana pointed at the mushrooms with a wavy finger and leaned against a tree for support. She could hardly stand up straight. “They must have released enchanted spores when we stepped on them.”
“Yep,” Guy said. “And we breathed them in.”
Averyl broke out laughing. Guy laughed with her, then Nijana. They didn’t know what the fuck was so funny, but couldn’t stop laughing, regardless. Guy laughed so hard with the two fae girls that the trio fell to the grass, rolled around, and sat up to eye one another. Then they started laughing again for no particular reason.
“Ha!” Guy yelled. “So, are we high, then?”
“Oh yeah!” Nijana said. “We are so fucking high!”
Nijana stood up, rushed forward, then lost her balance and fell. Guy and Averyl just sat there, laughing at her.
“Help!” Nijana raised one arm up. “I have fallen!”
“You sure did,” Averyl giggled.
Nijana twirled on her side and grinned. “Why won’t you help me now?!”
Averyl got on all fours, crawled to Nijana, and looked at her, eyes wide open. She lowered to Nijana’s face and whispered. “I think it is about time you repaid some of your debts, Nijana.”
&nbs
p; Averyl ran her hands through Nijana’s pixie cherry-red hair, giggling the entire time.
Guy rolled over to the two. “Yeah! You like, uh owe Averyl and me.”
“But Averyl,” Nijana said to her. “I gave you the flaming robe, thing back.”
Averyl giggled. “You still owe Guy and me for the trouble you caused!”
Nijana lifted both eyebrows in shock. “How could I possibly do that?”
Guy shrugged. “I dunno. Figure it out ‘n’ shit.”
“Oh, I know!” Nijana walked to a grassy clearing, beckoning for the two to stand next to her. “Come, come!”
Guy stood beside Nijana on her left, and Averyl stood to her right.
“Okay,” Guy said to Nijana. “Now what?—”
Nijana grabbed Guy’s shoulders, yanked him toward her, and gave him an open-mouthed kiss. He felt her tongue trying to enter his mouth, so he opened it and invited the wet and playful guest inside. Nijana held Guy still, like she was trying to make sure he didn’t back away, and pushed her tongue deeper into his mouth. It was like she was trying to lick his tongue.
Averyl gawked at the two with her jaw dropped and her face flushed. From Averyl’s point of view, watching Nijana kiss Guy was like looking into a mirror and seeing her reflection do something she wasn’t. Being high on mushroom spores probably didn’t help.
Nijana removed her tongue from his mouth and pulled her lips away from his. Her cheeks were bright red, just like Averyl’s.
“Remember that time you almost fucked Dianna in the woods?!” Nijana asked Guy excitedly.
He nodded with a smirk. “I sure do!”
“Let’s fuck!” Nijana raised her hands to the treetops and spread her wings from side to side. “That’s my repayment!”
“Well—”
Mirror Princess: A LitRPG Space Fantasy (Sword of Asteria Book 2) Page 48