The knight in the mask

You have heard of the ``mandela effect,'' that strange event where 2 or more people share the same memory, but for one of them it is false.

The term "Mandela effect" was first coined by Fiona Broome, who called herself a paranormal investigator.

It is a clear example of how our actions and those of others can affect our memories to the point of making them almost identical, but... And if that Mandela effect were not just that, and their memories really are the same, even if one is not been there...

[Mesut Forest outside the capital Iskander]

[00:15 PM,] [05/09/317 D]

In a secluded area of ​​that dark forest, he was carrying out a beast hunt.

A beautiful dance of cuts accompanied by a rain of blood and viscera, there in the middle of said spectacle was a young woman who loved fighting.

Drenched in the blood of her prey, the young woman with a face full of ecstasy displayed her unparalleled skills.

Kaki Airi— What's wrong little one? You're the only one left, I'll count to 3 so you can escape, okay? 

Without having any chance to confront it, the creature escapes on its four legs, but then you hear: 3!!

Before it can even do anything, the beast's entire belly is torn open and pierced by a spike of ice that rose from beneath it.

Impaled on an ice thorn, the creature's blood began to drain from it, staining the ice red.

Kaki Airi— I think I exaggerated a little...

Looking around her, she notices that she has frozen a large part of the forest, and what was once a dark forest, was now an ice forest bathed in blood and beast parts.

Kaki Airi— Phoenix, come out for a moment please. 

Phoenix is ​​the familiar of, kaki, it is a small bird with reddish feathers and a tuft of fire on its head. He is a fire-resonant familiar, which she uses to clean up the messes she causes when she uses her elemental resonance.

Kaki Airi— I entrust you with melting the ice and cleaning up the remains, I'm going to look for Tai.

Phoenix— ¡Phoenix!

[Mesut Forest outside the capital Iskander]

[00:20 PM,] [05/09/317 D]

[inxtine flower field]

Time and fate play their cards in ways we cannot understand. However, we can always try to change it if we have the will to do so...

The illuminated field of beautiful Inxtine flowers reached as far as the eye could see, fireflies flying over the fields and a slight current of air which made them sway, thus causing the inxtine flowers to release their sweet aroma.

Among them were two silhouettes that clearly did not belong there, however, in the past they were together in that same place 17 years ago...

The woman who until now had only been escaping from me, was standing surrounded by inxtine flowers in that huge and beautiful field, then she blurted out some words that made no sense as she turned to me...

Forest Woman— It's been a long time hasn't it?…

The woman says those words with a kind expression on her face, however, she feels dark and emotionless, as if there is nothing in her.

Taisei Genpou— I don't know what you're talking about, but you'll come with me, I'm part of the Iskander Academy research group, I need you to answer some questions about the castle that was observed before. 

The woman ignores all my words and walks towards me, until she is a few steps away from my position, standing in front of me, she extends her arm and places her hand on my chest.

Taisei Genpou— You, what do you think you are doing?

I try to push her away from, but it's too late, my body felt numb, little by little I felt like sleep was taking over me, until I lost consciousness before I realized it.

The forest woman holds my body before she falls to the ground. I think she managed to hear something before she lost all reason, and then my consciousness fades.

Forest Woman— I'm sorry little one, you're very upset, rest in mom's arms for a moment. 

It was a reunion that she had been waiting for for 17 long years, that woman had a duty to fulfill to her little ones, but she had something to say especially to her...

As I regain consciousness, I feel the warmth of someone, a person I know well… I can feel her hand caressing my hair, where am I? I can feel the wind hitting my face and the scent of flowers filling my pores, I'm sure I fell asleep in my room last night after listening to Ruby complain about school, but...

This sensation is warm, and strangely familiar, my head is lying on her lap and she is stroking my hair…

[A dream]

Bare feet moved along the path.

No one knew why she followed that path, however, no one ever asked her why she did it.

She moved forward alone, she was a kind young woman and she always seemed to have fun.

Young child— miss…

The boy held the rails of her coat while he kept an innocent smile on her face.

Arlet— What's happening?

Young child— Why do you always help us, even though the whole village speaks badly of you? 

That's right... The village did not accept her, however, whenever someone needed help, she would volunteer, one day it was just field work, other murders, other days she was the concubine of some nobleman who visited the village, sometimes some The king came to unleash his anger on the villagers and she endured being whipped and abused by the king himself and his soldiers in front of all the inhabitants of the village. Who did not lift a finger for her...

However, despite everything she has to go through, she smiles and looks at the boy next to her.

Arlet— Do you have a dream?

Arlet asked that child with a kind face and serene voice.

Young child— May you be very happy and when I grow up I can marry you. 

Arlet smiles sweetly at the little boy's innocent response.

Arlet— I also have a dream, I am going to do my best to fulfill it…

The boy smiles accepting his answer and takes the young woman's hands.

Young child— Up the east path, there is a stream that I play in sometimes. Would you like us to play together?

Arlet— she would be delighted to play with such a kind gentleman.

She smiles at the boy holding her left hand as he runs ahead of her.

Her future is uncertain, her possibilities are endless, but her duty is only one in her heart, will that girl be able to find something that will make her free herself from that duty...

[00:26 PM, 05/09/317 D]

[Mesut Forest outside the capital Iskander]

[inxtine flower field]

A mother's love has no limits, that's what many say, there are mothers who would be able to face the entire world for their children, she was no exception, she was willing to defy the laws of life with the sole purpose of caring for her beloved children…

Forest Woman— Sleep my little ones, I was finally able to see you again after so many years.

The woman was in the middle of that field of flowers, with a young woman with long navy blue hair, who was resting on her lap, she was sleeping peacefully, she was a beautiful young woman but her face seemed to hold absolute sadness. 

The soft wind carried with it the fragrance of flowers, although it was a winter night, it was really warm.

Tears flowed from the still closed eyes of the young woman sleeping in her lap, the woman wiped the young woman's tears and sang sweetly to appease those stormy memories that haunted her, and so once again as in the past, I take care of her, it is normal for a mother to love her daughter...

Forest Woman— But you will no longer be alone, you two are one, from today you must learn to live together, my little ones…

[00:13 PM, 05/09/317 D]

[Mesut Forest outside the capital Iskander]

[Abandoned Castle Watchtower]

The stables of the castle had already been checked by Akina, very contrary to the interior of the castle, the stables were in a state of abandonment, it seemed to have not been visited for decades.

Akina Airi— This place looks quite gloomy, chills run through my body with every step. 

Akina was standing in front of the stables, she had already finished checking her part, she was just waiting for Ruby, who wasn't finished yet.

Akina Airi— I wonder how the rest of them are doing---KYA!!!!!!!

Akina lets out a scream when she is frightened by the silhouette that moved between the shadows of the stables. In such a state of fright, she fails to see that it was her companion.

Ruby Genpou— Why are you screaming so much? Not that you had seen a living dead. Come get up, let's get on with the towers now.

Ruby, without stopping to think about why her friend was screaming, takes her hand and drags her with her towards the tower, in which Akina still hasn't recovered from the shock, yelling at her that she doesn't want to continue.

Akina is a kind young woman, she is not the type that chooses to get into a fight but the type that would avoid them with a talk and a strong scolding, she is the complete opposite of her older sister.

Although Kaki and Yoghito are older than her, Akina is the next head of her family. I guess they prefer a kind and smart young woman to a combat maniac and a conceited intellectual.

Both watchtowers are checked separately, Akina was reluctant to this idea, but trying to debate with Ruby was impossible, she will always do things her way, finding herself unable to contradict Ruby, Akina mustered up the courage to continue. with his duty.

However, the state of the towers was very different from the stables.

Akina entered the tower on the left wing, the door did not make a squeak when she opened it, surprising Akina when she saw the impeccable condition in which she was.

Akina Airi— (It's strange that there aren't any spider webs, the floors of the tower seem to have been cleaned a few hours ago as well)

Like the room that Taisei and Kaki had checked earlier, the towers were in perfect and impeccable condition.

Akina Airi— (Why is there such a discrepancy between the state of the stables and this tower? The candles seem to have been placed recently, they are still lit and impeccable.)

Immersed in the state of the room, Akina did not observe where she was walking. As she took a few steps inside the tower, her feet collided with a tea vase.

Akina Airi— Someone seems to have been here not long ago, ``Lumin, Flora, Gardev, come out''

Akina throws three seeds and from them emerge her three familiars, Lumin, is a feline with white fur and pink eyes, it has unmatched vision and atrocious agility, as well as many support abilities, it is a pet that specializes in exploring and empower your colleagues.

Flora, a type of female humanoid plant, similar to a girl, with a skirt of roses and flower bows, Flora is an expert in tracking and construction, capable of creating all types of mechanisms with plants, which serve her when it comes to Whether defending himself or providing support with weapons to his companions, his tracking ability, eye of the sunflower and scent of the rose, allow him to find irregular variations in the terrain and differentiate all types of aromas. She is another support and tracking type family member.

Gardev, the flagship familiar of Akina, a warrior princess of the Gardevian race, the novas belonging to these races are extremely strong and dangerous, however, Akina is the only tamer who has managed to establish a friendship with one of them, Gardev. , has long silver hair, two orchids like bows on both sides of her head, turquoise eyes and a solemn face, she wears a long black dress adorned with thorns. His cold gaze is enough to scare his enemies, Gardev specializes in hand-to-hand combat, capable of handling any type of melee weapons and a strange ability that allows him to use tree roots to attack, as if from tentacles. He is a completely battle familiar.

Lumin— Meow teacher!

Lumin jumps onto Akina's chest, and she is caught before reaching Akina.

Gardev— Please behave Lumin, the teacher called us because she needs our help, not to play.

Lumin— Meow…

As Gardev scolded Lumin, a giggle was heard.

Flora— Don't worry Lumin, we'll play later, yes? master, I can smell a very unpleasant aroma coming from the castle, I think...

Before Flora could finish, a piercing scream from the castle echoes through the tower.

Gardev— That's!

Akina Airi— Gardev, Lumin, look for ruby, Flora, will you come with me?

Flora— Yes, my duty is to be by your side, my master.

[00:13 PM, 05/09/317 D]

[Mesut Forest outside the capital Iskander]

[Abandoned castle first floor]

The young Genpou brothers were in the library on the first floor, both seemed absorbed in it, keeping books which seemed interesting to them in their dimensional pockets.

Yusuke Genpou— Kai I found this spell book in the occult session just now.

Kai Genpou— Th---That's... Clairvoyance!!

With a shout of excitement, Kai and Yusuke celebrate a great find among all those old books.

The book explained the steps to follow for the preparation of the mystical eyes of clairvoyance, an art in which both were researching, although the mystical eyes are prohibited arts, it is not prohibited to study them, as long as your family has sufficient funds, to pay for the license, otherwise you would be imprisoned, sentenced to 20 years of confinement under strict surveillance, on suspicion of treason to the kingdom. This book was an ancient tome of mystical eyes not something that would be found in the academy library for obvious reasons.

Yusuke Genpou— Right! Kai, have you seen Yoghito and Taisei? — Yusuke asked his brother who was turning page after page of the book.

Kai Genpou— Brother should be upstairs with Kaki, however, I couldn't feel his resonance anywhere, like Kaki's, Yoghito also disappeared. To be exact, I haven't seen him since we entered the castle, he disappeared from one moment to the next. Kai's face showed an expression of confusion, just like Yusuke's.

At that moment a scream can be heard. A cold air ran across the backs of both Genpou brothers and they headed at full speed to the main wing of the opposite door, without stopping to think about it first.

They knew what they were coming for, they were prepared for what could happen, but they did not count on their two aces to disappear. They were investigating a murderer of Iskander Academy students, and three of their members were in an unknown condition, however, they never thought what they were about to witness would happen.

[00:20]

The large main hall at the entrance to the castle was dark. There were some sounds in the place, a small drip could be heard in that darkness, the creaking of the main doors which seemed to have opened could be heard, allowing those approaching from the hallways on the way to the library to see. the silhouette of the young Akina and her familiar Flora, despite their meeting, the large room that until the moment they entered for the first time, which was completely illuminated with the golden chandeliers that illuminated every corner of that room, now It was immersed in total darkness, the darkness was so incredibly dense that you could feel that you were colliding with something with every step you took within it, in which a sound that was repeated at fixed time intervals could be heard ``tic tack, tic tack.

Along with the drops that they had heard before from a container that contained some type of liquid, which seemed to be leaking, the drops that fell and met the floor resonated throughout the room.

The door closes abruptly behind the young Akina.

Yusuke Genpou— Those drops are making my hair stand on end, how much I hate damn watches—Yusuke showed signs of nervousness, his hands as well as his face were beginning to be covered with sweat.

It is not that they had a special fear of the darkness, but what they feared was that darkness in particular, darker than normal, unable to see their own steps or their hands in front of their eyes, only surrounded by the sounds of the clock, and the regular sound of drops hitting the ground.

Kai Genpou— Call me crazy if you want, but I'm sure that before we went to the library, the room was completely lit, who the hell turned off the lights?

Akina Airi— I will use a spell to illuminate the room—As Akina began to cast her spell, her hands lit up enough for Yusuke to see her and stop her.

Yusuke Genpou— Don't do that, I was thinking of using my element to illuminate everything, but I have a strange feeling of danger. If they put up a barrier you will be thrown out the moment you activate your spell, Kai remember where the windows were, draw the curtains to let in some light.

Silence covered the room, the air felt increasingly heavier, Kai reached for the curtains of the huge windows and pulled them aside, thus allowing the moonlight to enter the room.

The light began to enter the room and then, although still faint, it could already be seen, and there...

The sounds of the clock and the drops seemed to intensify, because everything else seemed to have agreed to remain silent, the agitated breathing of those present in that room, the sweat on their faces and the expression of shock and horror on them. Faced with this unpleasant landscape. A landscape that no one expected to see when they left their homes this afternoon.

The young man who seemed to know everything, and who loved cases that were difficult to crack, the great leader of the Iskander Academy research club, was found hanging and crucified in the middle of the room, ropes dyed in blood tied to both wrists each. tied up on the second floor terraces, the palms of her hands pierced by iron stakes, multiple lacerations on both arms and legs. His uniform was torn and a huge hole was left in his belly leaving his entrails hanging from the hole in his belly. The dripping blood ran down his skin to his feet and fell until it hit the cold floor of the room that had now turned red. His face had no expression, his tongue, eyes and ears were missing. He was completely dismembered, as if he were an animal in the slaughterhouse. No, this was worse, the young man's heart was on the ground in the middle of the pool of blood, next to his head completely torn from his torso.

Everyone was in complete shock, none of them moved, the nausea had invaded them and their bodies were trembling, they tried to move, but they only ended up falling to their knees to the ground, what was in their stomachs was now coming out of their mouths hitting the ground, At that moment, footsteps were heard in the room, a thin silhouette was descending the stairs giving slight applause.

¿? — Yes Yes Yes Yes! That is the expression I longed to see on young, beautiful faces plunged into utter and complete despair. It's so much beauty that I can't help but want to cut them off.

Her eyes were hidden by a mask.

A big smile, big white teeth were visible at the same time that he had a strange expression full of excitement, on the other hand, none of the young people could look up at him, the aura so absurdly full of darkness of that gentleman, dressed in an elegant ruffled shirt, fine Blas shoes, and colorful striped dress pants, his hands covered in his elegant and completely white gloves, his mere presence kept the three young people plunged into despair, making Akina look incapable. to maintain the invocations of their relatives.

¿? — I planned for the young man with the heterochromia to enjoy this scene, but I will have to settle for you, what a shame, that makes me very sad, but art is so that everyone can enjoy and appreciate it.

Everyone was speechless, the three of them were with their knees on the ground, one hand on their mouths and the other on their stomach, trying to control their nausea, the man in front of them does not stop talking with great joy about their actions.

¿? — At first it was a little difficult, hmm I thought and I thought that maybe I could have avoided a couple of lacerations, but that couldn't be helped, it was putting such a beautiful expression on his face that just wanted to keep cutting him, OH! Look here it is.

The man stands in the middle of the pool of blood and kicks an object that was there, it slides to where Kai and the others were kneeling.

The three look at the object and nausea invades them again, the lifeless heart of the young man who hours before was happily spending the afternoon with them at the academy, was now in front of them completely severed.

¿? — What's wrong with you young people? — A wide smile remained on the man's face as he looked at the young elites of the academy — Don't look at him like that, he's just a piece of meat without any use, it even seems to have gone bad, allow me to get rid of it, I cannot allow such a disgusting aroma to merge on a mademoiselle, my apologies mademoiselle Akina.

The man took the piece of meat, which used to be Yoghito's beating heart, between his hands and ran his entire tongue over it.

¿? — Even now he tastes delicious.

While the man was enjoying the taste of blood on the piece of meat he was holding, a dagger rushed towards his neck held by the young Akina's hand.

Akina Airi— I'm going to kill you!!!!

With her face covered in tears. Akina lashes out at her clear enemy in front of her in a deep rage.

¿? — Let me stop, you say... Don't you think you're a little late for that, now it's just a tasteless piece of meat. If you had arrived earlier, maybe I would have stopped, but right now.

The man's expression became gloomy, he dodged Akina's attacks effortlessly and then a single hook, well placed in the pit of Akina's stomach, was enough to stop her in the tracks, thus causing her to be thrown until she crashed against the walls of the room, she spat blood when she hit the walls and fell to the floor without being able to move.

¿? — Next time, wait until I finish speaking, when I speak no one is allowed to interrupt, OH! How careless of me, I completely forgot to introduce myself to you. My name is ``Harlequin Brighella´´ Or you can also call me "Knight of the mask"

Hiding one of his arms behind his back and with his other hand on his chest, offering a bow to the young people when appearing before them.

But a voice interrupts his presentation, from the second floor terrace, there was a young woman standing watching everything.

¿? — I didn't have to be here, but I guess there's no way around it if this is how things are.

Arlequín Brighella— Who are you? Let yourself be seen intruder!

The man asks about the identity of the intruder and he only smiles, thus leaning out of the terrace allowing the now chandeliers that were lit to glimpse his figure, allowing Harlequín to notice who it was.

Arlequín Brighella— That appearance... no, impossible... What is someone like you doing here?, ``All evils are written and the light is what projects them.''

By Harlequin's enchantment, creatures rose from the blood of the young man whose life he had taken.

Without waiting for any order, the creatures attacked the intruder, who, with an expression of displeasure, watched the beasts rushing towards her. Even without moving from his spot, the beasts in front are eliminated with a quick swing of his sword. Two, three, not five more, were approaching him, they jumped from both the right and left flanks and he evaded them without problem. Two vertical cuts with an agile movement slice the beasts that tried to hit him. Even if they sent thousands of those beasts, it would not be enough to cause scratches in that girl

Kai Genpou— She is?

Arlequín Brighella— Eliza Scarleth…

In disbelief at what was before his eyes, Harlequin could only observe how his creatures capable of facing a B rank without problems, were killed as if they were simple ants, before a mountain of corpses of his creatures, the young Eliza. Scarleth stood with her huge sword on her shoulder without a single scratch.

The girl lets out a sigh of relief and jumps down from the hill of corpses, heading towards her clear objective, however, she is interrupted by a huge fist, the pile of corpses had joined together to form a flesh golem. and blood. Eliza blocks the golem's fist with her great sword, Harlequin taking advantage of the moment to escape from her, opening a portal under her feet.

Arlequín Brighella— This time they got their way, but next time they won't escape. Bye bye

The man's disordered laughter echoed and disappeared in the portal.

Eliza Scarleth— HUH?! Do not go!!

Eliza fell to her knees on the ground completely discouraged.

Eliza Scarleth— There goes my pay for this assignment… if it weren't for… if it weren't for you, you damn brainless bastard, I would have gotten a good pay to eat something other than bread this month, ¡¡you'll pay me!!!

With a war cry. Eliza wielded her greatsword again with her eyes burning, she rushed towards the golem seeking revenge