「 Ciel's Pov. 」
Gently closing the front door behind me, I sped out of the courtyard while trying my best to look as professional and unrattled as possible while clutching my briefcase.
I needed to double-check if the Self-Geass scroll I had used had been tampered with, as the information Morgan had given me was simply far too unbelievable.
A 'human' had killed not one, not two, not three, but four of the seven Servants in a Grail War, which just happened to be the three Knight Classes, along with a Caster in her seat of power.
And after receiving crippling wounds from his fight against the 'strongest' Servant, he was still able to kill King Arthur right afterwards, and after that he had enough in the tank to kill a God using an undisclosed method.
It was simply all too unbelievable, even with the Geass contract vouching for Morgan's honesty.
So right now I needed to check if Morgan had somehow tampered with the contract, but I wouldn't dare do such a thing anywhere close to that woman, let alone right outside their house.
Therefore, I needed to put as much distance between myself and those two freaks living there as quickly as possible.
The darkness of the night did not help my unease, as I tried my best to go far enough to ensure that I was out of Morgan's supervision… and based on my assumed level of her skill, I'd need to go quite far…
Continuing my speed walk, I didn't stop until I came across a police barrier in front of the only bridge connecting the two sides of Fuyuki. Not that it was serving any function at the moment, considering the damage it had sustained.
Cracks littered the road and pavement, while some of the bolts on the bridge had clearly been shaken out of their sockets. Driving over it would be incredibly dangerous, which could be seen as the police and fire department were using small boats to cross the channel, rather than using the unstable bridge.
And what a sight the other side of the channel was…
Burnt and collapsed buildings, some still glowing like burnt charcoal under the night sky, leading all the way to the river.
It was clear that the only thing that stopped the fire in this part of the city was the natural barrier that came in the shape of a large body of water that stopped the flames from spreading further.
The knowledge that all this damage, and all those lives lost, were the fault of stupid Magi made my stomach churn… though the fact that the Church was not completely faultless in this situation made the situation far more bitter.
Seeing as the policemen were distracted providing aid to some citizens, I chose to lean into a shadow before grasping my cross with my one free arm. Infusing some Holy Energy into the cross, I felt one of its illusion Sacraments take effect, allowing me to loosely blend into the surroundings.
Letting go of the cross, I broke into a full sprint, and started weaving through the crowd, before I easily jumped over the police barricade.
Rushing past the ignorant police officers, I concluded that the arches were the strongest part of the bridge, so I ran onto the bridge's arches with ease.
In a span of a few seconds, I was already on the other side. The contrast of the two sides was blatant, as here there was not a soul guarding the bridge, rather there was a sign with hastily inscribed Japanese characters with an arrow pointing towards a stairway leading to the waterline, where some boats could be seen docked.
Passing the sign, I sped into the smoldering rubble that was once the Shinto district. The roads were barely visible under all the debris, and the less said about the buildings the better.
Seeing a thick layer of smoke in the distance, I pulled out a handkerchief, before pressing it against my nose without breaking my full sprint. In a blink, I was surrounded by the thick smog, which was accompanied by the smell of burnt everything, causing me to curse my sensitive sense of smell.
The smog was all-encompassing, limiting my vision to a few dozen meters, not that it mattered all too much, as I still had no idea where I was going… The 'Civic Center' meant literally nothing to me, and I didn't think a map would help much with the city being destroyed, so I gave up on the idea of asking for one.
All I knew was that it was located someplace northeast, and that the place would be the epicenter of the fire, so it should hopefully be easy to spot.
Inhaling a deep breath, I decided to bite the bullet and get on with it.
Rushing through the rubble, I watched as a few firemen rushed around, and did their job proud, putting out fires left, right and center. Ignoring them, I plowed onwards, deeper into the smoldering city.
After a while of aimless running, I felt a sudden wave of uneasiness wash over me, causing me to almost tumble as I came to a sudden halt. It was as if the very air was tainted, causing me to feel like something was crawling under my skin.
The feeling was one I had felt not too long ago, after being exposed to a sample of the 'Grail Mud' in Morgan's office.
If this was not a sign that I was on the right track, I didn't know what was.
With that knowledge, I continued my search, albeit at a far more sedate pace, as I was unwilling to run and potentially fall into a puddle of the cursed mud.
The further I went, the more uneasy I felt, but there was a silver lining to the increasing unease. I no longer felt any eyes spying on me.
I hadn't felt it before, probably due to me being caught unaware when I entered Morgan's 'surveillance range', but now that I had left it, it became increasingly clear that I was being spied on.
Morgan had mentioned having a city wide surveillance field during the War, so I can only assume that the explosion of the Grail poked a giant hole in the field.
Tightening my grip on the briefcase, I took a glance at the surroundings, before quickly walking towards the least dilapidated building that didn't look like it was about to collapse at the drop of a hat.
Kneeling behind a broken wall, I tentatively opened the briefcase and pulled out the Self-Geass Contract Morgan had signed.
Its clauses were simple and clear; if the signatory lied about what happened during the Grail War or used Magecraft to confuse the interviewer during questioning, their Magic Circuits and Magic Crest would be destroyed.
Nothing more, nothing less.
There was just one teensy-tiny problem…
The claims that women gave were simply outrageous!
I had read a report about Alistair Pendragon. He was some sort of really strong unofficial Enforcer, as he had been on dozens of Apostle hunts together with the next in line to the Barthomeloi family.
Nothing in that report hinted to him being capable of fending off a Servant, let alone killing four of them. And the less said about the so-called 'Divine Spirit' Morgan claimed he killed right afterwards, the better.
The fact that Morgan hadn't started to bleed from every orifice, from what should clearly have been a shit-ton of blatant lies, raised like a dozen red flags immediately.
Either she had somehow spoofed the contract I had given her, which I was really hoping was true, or Alistair Pendragon was a monster on par with the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors.
Make no mistake, Morgan herself was clearly no slouch, but the new Pendragon Lord would be in a league of his own.
The Church would need to play nice, and probably bend over backwards to make up for the Kotomine's giant fuck-up, so as to ensure that they could ask him for help in regards to any problems that might crop up with the 27.
I don't know how things are run in the Mage's Association, but I'm rather confident that he'll probably receive a similar level of treatment, if not an outright far better level of treatment.
Though, I'm fairly sure all those heretics don't like to put all their cards on the table, which makes Morgan's 'transparency' about the topic really confusing, as it goes against a lot of the Church's teachings on the heretical ways of the Magi.
… Or, if we follow that line of thought, Alistair might be capable of doing more, as he has more cards hidden.
…
The sudden feeling of goosebumps caused me to snap out of that line of thought, and I instinctively bit down a shudder.
Jup, fuck that shit. I'd rather not imagine a more powerful monster, than the one Morgan had already described to me.
Looking at the Self-Geass Scroll, I double, triple and quadruple checked the signature. Be it by tracing a thumb over the signature to feel the dent in the parchment, activating a sacrament to check if the scroll was activated, or trying my damndest to think up any loopholes the scary woman could have used.
The longer I tried to find something wrong, the more I felt like something heavy had settled in my stomach.
The damn thing was genuine… or at least not tampered with according to my observations. With slightly trembling hands, I rolled up the parchment, and placed it back into the briefcase. I'd have an Executioner or a Bishop look it over ASAP, but until then, I'd treat it as genuine.
Grabbing the briefcase, I slowly made my way out of the destroyed building, and continued my search for the Civic Cen— nope, fuck that. If there actually is a Godslayer in this city, one who might be pissed with the Church for not being neutral, and according to Morgan, caused a lot of problems to him due to Kirei. It was in my best interest to find Kiritsugu Emiya, or his homunculus wife.
Finding them would count for my investigation, so I should be within the contract's rules, and handing one or both of them over would earn us a lot of brownie points, which we clearly needed— Huh?
As I left the building, my eyes almost instinctively locked onto a destroyed car poking out of a nearly collapsed garage. That by itself was not unique given the surroundings, but the gun barrel poking from under a giant stone that was crushing the car did.
Rushing over to the car, I felt my unease quintuple, as the surrounding air seemed to give off a feeling similar to the 'Grail Mud', to a far larger degree than the former surroundings.
Reaching the car, I could only grimace, as the car itself was scorched. The paint was practically falling off by itself, and the disgusting smell of 'cooked' human wafted from the crushed passenger seats.
Focusing on the broken windscreen, I got a far better look at the gun in the car, and the sight made my stomach drop. The automatic pistol looked a lot, no, it looked identical to the one Kiritsugu owned, according to the document Morgan had allowed me to look through.
Grimacing slightly, I positioned myself close to the driver's door, placed the briefcase on the ground, before placing my hands on the giant concrete slab that had crushed the car.
Tensing my fingers, they dug into the concrete with difficulty, allowing me to get a decent hold on it. Inhaling a deep breath, my body tensed, before I used my entire body and in one swift movement, pulled the rock out of the car.
What it revealed was two piles of charcoal, in the vague shape of two crushed humans.
Shit… if they were who I thought they were, then like hell I'd be able to get any DNA from their corpses right now, seeing as they were carbonized…
Looking at the gun, I picked it up and stuffed it into the briefcase. It was the best 'proof' I had of their deaths, though it wasn't enough to be conclusive…
Pulling out two vials, I scraped some charcoal into them for good measure, just to be on the safe side. Sighing at the lack of DNA evidence I could find, I moved over to the stone I had pulled out of the car, just to see if there was some burnt blood I might be able to salvage.
Kneeling to get in closer, I started studying it, and before long, my eyes locked onto a few thin silver and black lines amidst the burnt blood.
Jackpot!
Without hesitation, I pulled out another two vials, and started scraping the blood off, along with a few hair strands.
Looking at the two vials, filled with flakes of burnt blood and hair, I felt my joy at finding probable DNA proof of Kiritsugu Emiya and Irisviel von Einzbern starting to quickly dampen.
If the two were already dead, then it meant that Alistair wouldn't be as pleased when he found out… meaning that this wasn't the 'get out of jail free card' that I was hoping it was for the Church…
Slowly, I placed the two into a separate pocket of the briefcase, before releasing a weary sigh.
God, if you're listening, please look out for me… I have this odd feeling I might die when I tell Alistair of the death of his mother's murderers…
~~Fate/False Order~~
「 Morgan's Pov. 」
Watching the girl scamper off caused a small smile to grace my lips.
Ciel was an interesting girl, she was clearly too green for the job she had been assigned, but I could only thank my lucky stars for her incompetence, as that made my job fabricating an ironclad alibi far easier.
The Church and Clock Tower would snoop around for my identity in all the wrong places, giving me more than enough time to bring the Animuspheres to heel, and get them to fabricate an identity for 'Vivian'.
Though, I wasn't looking forward to my explanation to Alistair about our so-called marriage. He'd understand the need for using it as an excuse, I'm sure, but it didn't sit right with me to use it as an explanation without clueing him in.
The same went with my relative 'openness' with what actually went down. Usually, his slaying of four Heroic Spirits and Angra Mainyu would guarantee a Sealing Designation and he'd be feared and hunted for the rest of his life.
But Alistair is the future King of Britain, the de facto head of the Pendragon Family, and therefore the Clock Tower's Landlord. If anything, with all that backing him, it would be political suicide for any of the Clock Tower Lords to even try to enforce such a thing.
Not that one or two of them wouldn't try to use it as a threat to judge Alistair's competence, as that is a given for the mostly sly and morally bankrupt Lords.
Ultimately, the achievements he had accumulated through the war would do more good than bad once the information was circulated, as the Family would garner far more prestige and respect thanks to it.
I myself had had a similar reputation, though far more widespread which included the mundane world, and the fear and respect garnered surprisingly opened more doors than it closed.
Though thanks to his achievements, no one would be insane enough to target Alistair, meaning that he'd likely garner a threat-level similar to that of a Magician.
Of course, that would lead to those close to him becoming the target, and if he leaves to do his 'training', I'd likely be the one in charge, along with becoming the main target for assassination or spying.
For a lesser person, that might have been a concern, but to one such as myself, find those things as the perfect way to gather intelligence, as all assassins and spies would be discovered then milked for all they were worth.
All in all, a great way to know who our hidden enemies are, while showing the rest of the magus community how strong we are after.
Sighing slightly, I dispelled my scrying spell, clearing out the mist displaying Ciel not-so-subtly speed walking away from the house in fear.
There was no need to watch her continuously, as I was sure that she'd discover the body doubles I had 'convinced' Kiritsugu to plant in due time thanks to the subtle mental suggestion I had implanted in her subconscious, leading her in the right direction.
Pushing myself up from the desk, I gave the clock a quick glance, and noticed quite fast that it was rather late.
Stretching slightly, I gave a slight sigh before moving to open the door. There was one last thing I wanted to do today, or rather needed to do, as I don't think Alistair was up to doing it himself at the moment.
Exiting the office, I moved to the house's east-wing, or the residential wing if you will, and quickly found myself standing in front of a door that hadn't been touched in over a day.
Rosalind's room.
A tired sigh instinctively found its way out of my mouth, before I opened the door. Entering the room, I turned on the lights, revealing a very tidy room with few personal items scattered throughout the bedroom.
A pair of fluffy slippers by the bed, a comfortable nightgown draped over the drawer, a small book with a bookmark in it on the desk, along with a small jewelry mannequin with a locket around its neck.
Glancing at the cupboard, I focused on it and on command, it swung open, revealing a small suitcase. With another thought, it floated over to the bed and unzipped itself, revealing an almost-finished packed suitcase.
The sight confirmed Amelia's words, as Rosalind was definitely preparing to leave as soon as possible. With a thought, the fluffy slippers flew from the floor, and neatly tucked itself into the open luggage bag.
Glancing at the drawer, the nightgown on it flew off, neatly folded itself midair, before placing itself into the suitcase. This was followed by the drawer's compartments sliding out, only to reveal that they were empty, meaning that Rosalind had probably packed next to everything.
Walking up to the desk, I glanced at the book cover, which caused a small smile to appear on my face. 'Japanese For Busy People', which was clearly some sort of language learning book she'd been using to communicate with Sakura. Just from looking at the bookmark, I could see that she had gotten quite far, around four fifths of its entirety.
With a thought, it flew into the suitcase, allowing me to continue looking for personal items to pack.
Looking at the locket on display, I picked it up from its display, before giving it a more thorough once-over. The metal was gold, and the locket itself had a few subtle carvings of small five cloved flowers, Hydrangea flowers if I wasn't mistaken.
It showed some wear and tear from constant rubbing on its edges, leading them to be slightly rounded due to her having repeatedly fiddled with it.
Hesitating slightly, I gently unlocked the hinge, and opened the locket. On the inside, there were two photos.
One seemed to be a birthday party, showing Rosalind standing behind a bar counter with Alistair, the presumed birthday boy, teaching him how to mix drinks. Though the light blush on her face made it clear that she had already had a drink or two, but the important thing was how happy the two looked while goofing off together.
The second photo had a much younger Rosalind, clearly tired and worn, though you wouldn't notice it with the large happy smile she was showing the camera, while cradling a small bundle of blankets wrapped around a newborn Alistair. She looked incredibly free, as if something that had been weighing on her had finally been lifted.
The photos, especially the second one, made me feel too bitter, so I quickly snapped the locket shut. Looking at the locket, I thought over where to place it, before sliding it into my own pocket.
It would probably be for the best to give it to Alistair in private at some point, so it was for the best to keep it on my person.
Waving my hand at the jewelry mannequin, it flew into the suitcase, fitting itself snugly into a corner clearly saved for it.
Looking at the desk, I noticed a few drawers, and started opening them. The first two were empty, but upon opening the third one, I was met with a folded sheet of paper, a pen, two envelopes and a lot of loose papers.
Frowning slightly, I picked up the folded page, and straightened it, allowing me to find a message written in neat cursive.
'If you have found this, please do not open the letters, which can be considered my final words, unless I am dead.
And even then, only open them if you are emotionally stable enough to handle such a thing.
If Alistair is not the one to find this, then I hope that you can hold off on giving Alistair his letter. I'll leave the decision on when to give him my final words in your very own capable hands, Vivian. Know that I have written you one as well.
Either way, regardless of which one of you finds this, I hope you heed my words.
-Rosalind Pendragon'
Blinking blankly, I quickly threw the note onto the desk, revealing two envelopes with the names 'Vivian' and 'Alistair' written neatly on them.
Picking the two up, I felt the difference instantly, as Alistair's letter was a good bit thicker than my own, though it was worth mentioning that the two were not properly sealed.
Gently placing Alistair's letter on the desk, I looked at the one assigned to me.
Rosalind had been a joy, be it to talk to or just be with, and her leaving such a thing for me meant more than it probably should, but just holding it made me feel a bit anxious.
I felt that I hadn't spoken to her enough in life, something that I only now have started to regret, and getting the chance to 'talk' to her, albeit in a one-sided manner, was surprisingly endearing.
Flipping the letter over, I opened the envelope's flap with ease, revealing a few folded pieces of paper.
Slowly, and with a lot of care, I pulled out the papers, revealing dozens of lines of neat, and now familiar, cursive.
'Dear Vivian.
Surprise?!
Well, 'surprise' might be the wrong term, but I was struggling with how to start this letter and I don't want to set the mood to be too dower, as I am sure you have had enough of that already, so I thought it a decent way to start my letter to you.
Now for a Fun-Fact! I myself have been writing 'post-mortem' letters for a few years now, each time writing one as an insurance that I'd be able to give my loved ones one last message if I was heading out and doing anything vaguely dangerous.
That is mostly due to the fact that, as you know, my own parents died very suddenly, and since I was unable to have the chance to speak with them due to the suddenness, I came up with this as a means to at the very least have a one-way path of communication to give some sense of closure.
I know that we are not exactly family, but I found it very hard to stop myself from writing this after our little heart-to-heart we had a few minutes ago.
You seem to have had a hard life so far, be it due to your family, or your very own mind, you've painted a picture that makes it very difficult for me to just 'look away'. So since your family has dropped the ball on that front, I feel that it is my duty to give you the nudge you need while getting to know you a bit.
So, using all the great wisdom I have accumulated through my life, I will help us bridge the gap between us through pure unadulterated narcissism!
The key to world peace, I know.
In all seriousness, after the talk we just had, I just know that I wanted to get to know you better. But given our current predicament, I'm not exactly able to, so I shall settle with commenting a bit about my impressions of you, and some of my own personal information to round things out.'
Reaching the bottom of the page, I felt a small smile start to wiggle its way onto my face. Rosalind had been right, even though I had only just started reading the letter, it felt remarkably nice to hear from her again, albeit not in the way I had wanted.
I was certainly a bit curious in regards to her impression of myself, or rather my Vivian persona, not that the line between the two hadn't blurred on occasion while interacting with her.
Thumbing the parchment lightly, I glanced at the last line once more and felt a bit uneasy.
Interacting with Rosalind had been wonderful, and given the fact that she had left me something, I can only assume her thoughts on my person weren't terrible.
But, given the fact that this is a one-way form of communication, with no real backlash on her if she says something rude, or flat out offensive, I feel slightly uneasy about her unfiltered opinion on my person.
Did it truly matter, no, not really. But I had observed her for a while, our interactions had been enjoyable, and I admit that I had been looking forward to our future interactions. So her opinion mattered more than I probably care to admit.
Sighing slightly, I flipped the page, and my eyes were met with another wall of neatly written text.
'I have to say, when I laid eyes on you, and connected the dots between yourself and my son, I shouldn't need to tell you how ecstatic I was.
My boy is 19 years old and has shown no real interest in women, bar a certain gremlin, which was slowly causing me to fear for our family's future.
To put it into perspective, I was not so subtly nudging girls of similar age and status to interact with Alistair, only for him to brush them off, and head off to kill another Apostle or something similar.
So when you appeared out of nowhere, I felt all my worries wash away, and with your explanation on how the two of you met during one of his hunts, things started to fall into place with his consistent Apostle hunts over the past few years.
Though the fact that the two of you tried so hard to hide your relationship kind of annoys me, as I'd like to think that I am rather approachable… Well, most of the time.
Regardless of my 'hurt' feelings, I think our little talk together cleared a thing or two up on that front.
When we first met, I felt that you were nice, but something felt off about you. Not in a bad way, mind you, but after thinking about it for a day, I came to the conclusion that you were creating some artificial distance between you, Artoria and myself.
The reasoning has eluded me for the past few days, but after our little talk, I'd like to think that I know you well enough to come to an answer on that front.
And that is that you, Vivian, have lived a difficult life so far.
I cannot even begin to fathom the pain and anguish that multiple voices in one's head can cause, and from your words, I can only assume that you had no one to lean on while you were suffering.
I wouldn't wish such an experience on my worst enemies, let alone a girl of your age, and I want you to know that you are all the stronger for getting through it.
While you claim to have made a lot of mistakes, even terrible ones according to yourself, I'd like for you to not be too hard on yourself. Yes, you might have done a lot of distasteful things, 'apostle-levels of cruelty' or whatever nonsense you called it, but I simply do not care.
You seem to understand that you did something wrong, and I feel confident that you'll strive not to repeat your mistakes if you can.
So I can understand that with your past, it might be difficult to let people in, or interact with them in a matter that isn't superficial.
But you're a good girl Vivian, one that has been dealt a bad hand, so please try not to let that part of your life color your entire future, I know you're better than that, and Alistair certainly seems to think the same.
You have a lot of promise, you are strong-headed, but flexible when needed, you'll go far no matter what you do. It saddens me to imagine that I won't be there to see whatever you'll do, but know that from what I have seen, I am immensely proud and impressed at what you have achieved despite your unfortunate start.
And regardless of how your relationship goes with Alistair, I'm happy to have met you, and wish the absolute best for you.'
Tightening my grip on the letter, I tried in vain to stop my fingers from crumpling the edges of the letter at my sudden lapse of control.
Such unconditional care was very alien to me, as in the last time I had encountered such a thing I was still a mere child, so encountering once more, even indirectly like this, caused me to tremble from knowing that it had all slipped through my fingers.
A shaky sigh escaped my lips, and my fingers reflexively loosened, causing the letter to almost slip out of my grasp, before I quickly tightened my grip.
The signs were there, she had invited me from time to time to do some small menial things together, and just spent some time talking nonsense with me whenever the situation permitted. I had only assumed that she just wanted to get to know her son's new partner, but seeing it from a different perspective, it seemed like she wanted us to bridge the gap between us.
That slight change in perspective only further soured my mood.
I was bitter— no, that didn't even begin to scratch the surface of it.
Gilgamesh, Kiritsugu and Artoria, those three, from most to least responsible, were the root cause of this disgusting feeling.
I wanted to kill them, I wanted to kill them so badly.
I stopped my fingers from tearing apart the letter at the sudden outburst, instead letting out a tired breath, knowing far too well that I couldn't kill any of them currently.
Gilgamesh was already dead and Kiritsugu had been marked for death by Alistair, while Artoria was the only one receiving a modicum of punishment for her hand in the murder of Rosalind, as she would likely be stuck rethinking her last actions for the next decade in limbo.
Revenge would need to take a backseat, regardless of my feelings, as it was infeasible currently. The best I could do was plan for their downfall, and make it as painful as possible, be it physically or emotionally.
And right now, I was starting to lean more on the emotional spectrum. It wouldn't go against Alistair's aims, and I don't think he'd be against me pulling a string or two to make their home life a smidge more turbulent, as long as they aren't harmed.
Hmmm… that was food for thought…
Wrenching my thoughts away from the distraction, I focused my attention back on the letter, and turned the page, revealing another piece of parchment filled with text.
'Now, before I end this letter, I'd like to ask you for something regarding Alistair.
You see, for most parents, their child is naturally the center of their world, but Alistair is even more special to me, as I never expected to be able to ever have a child in the first place. Not long after my parents' death, I discovered a pair of magical Circuits that had manifested in my ovaries, which should have rendered me barren.
The news had me depressed for months, knowing the family would likely either end with me, or be left in the hands of someone under another family's influence. Either way, it would likely fall or significantly weaken during my lifetime, and that knowledge was slowly crushing me from within.
It was during that depressive episode that I suddenly started showing signs of pregnancy, and the rest is history.
To me, Alistair's birth is the greatest miracle and best thing that has happened to me in my life, and knowing that he is alone terrifies me.
So please, I beg you, please take care of Alistair.
If he's anything like me, he should be beyond crushed. He'll feel alone, depressed, and in the event that I was anywhere close to him during my death, he'll feel guilty, regardless if he was or wasn't in a position to help.
He means the world to me, so please keep him safe.
Do so, and, for whatever it's worth, you'll get my blessing in regards to your relationship, and I'll know that I can rest easy knowing he'll be fine.
Goodbye, and I'll thank you in advance, Vivian.
With your best regards, Rosalind Pendragon.'
Looking at her last request, I felt a bone-deep heaviness.
All that desperate trust, all those good feelings, yet she hadn't even been given the courtesy of knowing my name… It made me feel so… filthy, and in ways I hadn't felt in aeons.
Folding the letter, I gave a sigh.
I needed some time to properly digest this.
Before I could pick up the other page and place them in the envelope, I noticed another message on the back of the last piece of parchment, causing me to fold it out and give it another look.
'P.S. I just read the last part once more, and feel that it might have been a total mood killer, which was pointedly something I set out to avoid, so I'll leave you with this:
Be on the lookout for black-haired and red-eyed freeloaders, if you know you know, as I may or may not have promised something similar to what I promised above to a certain little cretin matching the previous description…
I take no blame for my actions, as I did not know that you existed, so I'll leave the blame for my rash actions on the two of you.
Now, regardless of my annoyance with the Church's inaction recently, I'd encourage you to invest in a silver cross or three.
It won't help, but who knows, maybe she'd be amused enough to not instantly turn you into a smear on the floor when she meets you…
That, or you can try to convince her to keep her end of the bargain from what I asked of her, but odds are you'll probably die, so I encourage the former suggestion over this one.
Regardless, try not to die, as Alistair would be sad.
With Love, Rosalind Pendragon.'
Letting out an amused snort, I felt a slightly crooked smile start to form on my face, while feeling slightly miffed at the last message.
I didn't know what was more impressive, the fact that Rosalind thought that 'Vivian' wouldn't immediately run for the hills as soon as she learnt that Altrouge Brunestud was gunning for the same man, or the fact her last message had actually managed to lift my mood.
It was obviously the latter, and for that I'd be thankful.
Carefully folding the page, I picked up the others and folded them as well, before gently putting them back into the envelope. Turning it around, I looked fondly at the letter, though the action was followed by a bone-deep sense of bitterness.
Most of my life could be categorized as completely miserable, through no small fault of my own, which made it an incredibly bitter pill to swallow when someone that showed such genuine goodwill towards me had died.
Sighing slightly, I picked up Alistair's letter as well, before depositing the two into my shadow.
Glancing at the suitcase, I watched as its hinges swung closed, followed by the zipper sealing it shut, before sinking into its own shadow, leaving a slight imprint of itself on the bed where it once had lain.
Smiling sadly, I walked to the door and opened it, giving the room a last look before I turned off the lights and left.
"Goodbye."
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A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
Ok, I'd like to give some perspective… This chapter took like four weeks thanks to a mix of the long ass assignments I was given, along with the fact that when I was free, it was like über depressing to write this chapter, so I elected to do other stuff, rather than write…
But yeah, I'm mostly on track, but it was thanks to this chapter that things got delayed as much as it was.
Regardless, I hope things are going well, and any questions and the like would be much appreciated!
Hop onto my Discord Server, I'd love to have a chat: https://discord.gg/HAPhryp5M2
Now, hand over those Power Stones, can't you see they are lonely when not used? Give them to me, and allow them to socialize, it's for their best... I swear...