Visions of the Past

Something she thought she'd only see in a nightmare or in the darkness of the abyss was happening right before her eyes.

'Am I… really going to die like this?'

Leona thought as she couldn't take her eyes off the hilt of the blade driven through her chest. There was no pain, instead just a sense of wonder how she was still breathing, it was a strange sensation of peace.

Her bloodied left hand tried to grasp the blade, but she simply couldn't get a hold of the handle, it was as if the weapon itself was made of air. She felt her legs go numb as she fell sideways on the snow, her consciousness slowly fading away as the snowflakes poured on her cold body.

"You've got a long road ahead of you young miss." The old man's voice had a strange kindness to it, as if they've met before. "Rest now, you'll need it for your journey."

She extended her hand out only for it to fall limp on the snow once again. Her vision was fading as her body became motionless against the snow.

Silence, it was as if time stopped flowing, the wonder of stillness was within Leona's mind as she thought of everything she had done up until that point. Was it all for nothing? One bland mistake to end an unfinished journey? She still had much to do, so much to accomplish, it was as if life had a grudge against her very being. In the depths of her consciousness she felt a glint of reality.

"Nothing is given, everything is granted, by the might of our ancestors we were able to strive to this very point."

An unfamiliar male voice ringed in her mind with resolution. Flashes of memories assaulted her soul, unknown memories to her, from a much more distant time.

"Our people seek retribution from the onis, my lord, who are we to defy them?"

Another unfamiliar voice, this one now from a woman filled with pain and regret. Leona found herself in a sea of recollections, this time, within a royal palace of which interior was unknown to her.

"I won't allow bloodshed to be invited to our shores ever again. By my rightful rule we shall ever know true peace."

The same first voice rang in her mind, though his resolution was still the same it forbade a sense of impending doom.

Seconds, minutes, hours, she was unsure how long it took for her to finally feel something again, as if her soul began to restructure itself from a million shattered pieces her consciousness finally began to hold a tangible sense of self. Once she opened her eyes she found herself overlooking a beautiful pristine lake with trees beautifully shaped like a painting of a surreal view alongside the edge of the water.

"Lord Miyamoto. I'm here to bring news about your wife."

A female voice caught her attention upon mentioning a very familiar name. Leona looked to the left side and saw a long black haired man around his thirties, standing imposingly with both of his hands hidden within the large sleeves of his white robe.

"And how did it go?"

He asked without taking his eyes off the lake.

"She has given birth, your son is all but in good health my lord."

He nodded slowly to himself.

"Good, I'll be there shortly then."

"Yes my lord."

Leona glanced to the side and saw the woman who was addressing him, she had two thin horns coming out of her forehead and her clothing was similar to Phoebe's in design, a shinobi, from what she could recall the high elf say.

"Onis were incredibly skilled in the art of the shinobi." A familiar voice came from behind her, the old man who she had just fought was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor mat. "In my days of lordship, they were the main force behind our army."

"Why am I seeing these memories?"

She asked while still looking at the female shinobi leaving the lord alone. They didn't seem to perceive either her or the old man.

"I've done what my benefactor taught me, a fusion of the soul. To better help you and yours, I've given up what remained of my own soul in order to teach you the art of the sword."

"But even so, why?"

Instead of answering, he simply motioned forward with his hand, upon turning around Leona saw yet another different memory, sitting on a large round volcanic rock a woman of silky silver hair was holding a baby enveloped in a fluffy white cloth, upon closer inspection Leona noticed the infant had the same hair color as the woman's.

Her eyes seemed like rubies against the gentle rays of the morning sunlight, the deep red color contrasted to her pale complexion along the thin jet black horns coming out of her forehead.

"My dear, have you come up with a proper name for our son?"

Her voice was soft, as if each time she spoke a gentle touch brisked Leona's face.

"I have been thinking. Mayhaps a strong name should be in order for him, I have no doubts that he'll easily surpass me in strength in just a few winters."

His wife giggled playfully.

"Perhaps so, but you seem joyful for that."

He scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed for her astute perception.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat. "In honor of a recent endeavor with the western nation and our continuous success in leading a prosperous nation. I believe Leonard should be a fine name."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"A knight's name?"

"Indeed. And his last name should be Louvre."

She blinked a few times, apparently in confusion.

"But dear. What about your last name?"

He shook his head slowly.

"This nation won't need any more leaders like me. I most certainly wish to not burder him with the weight of leading the masses like I had for these last decades. In this land of prosperity, I hope for all my subjects to live a hard earned but honest life without ever worrying for peace. Such is my dream."

After he was done speaking, the baby began to cry a little, but when the woman placed her index finger near his small left hand, his small fingers grasped around hers.

"It's okay Leonard. Your father is here and we won't ever leave your side."

The baby opened his eyes, revealing a crimson red color in his irises. For the split second Leona saw it, she felt like she had seen him before.

"Wait… it can't be…" She muttered under her breath as she suddenly turned around. "Is Krieg your-"

He was no longer there, but this time it was a different memory, she was standing atop a mountain of human corpses, some so mangled it was almost impossible to discern where a limb began or ended. The earth was scorched with golden fires, the sky fractured with what seemed to be corruption from another dimension seeping in their reality, a nightmarish sight upon a once beautiful land, between flashes of memories she could see what once was an entire city bustling with both humans and onis, now destroyed by angelic demons.

'This is…'

Death angels. The beginning of the end was right before her eyes. The corruption of the land and the destruction of mankind.

She blinked and found herself again in another memory. This time facing a man cloaked in darkness so deep not even light could escape his surroundings.

"Greetings. I've come with a proposal, lord of Nara, if you wish to save your nation all you have to do is reach out to me."

The amalgamation of darkness extended a hand towards him, a broken husk of a man standing lifelessly with a long curved blade in hand. Once their hands touched, she couldn't see anything anymore.

"Ah?!"

Leona jolted up awake from the snow, the place she fought against the old warrior was still the same as before, scorched earth, blood spilled on the ground and the broken longsword lying beside her.

She placed her hand on top of her chest and noticed the scar from the seared cut was still there along with dried blood smeared on her palm.

'So this wasn't a dream…'

She slowly stood up, the pain from the wound was still very noticeable as each time she moved her chest she could feel the stinging sensation inside her flesh. Once up, she looked around but there was no sign of the old man nor the dark knight.

'Was he trying to help us all this time?'

She wondered as she stood up, albeit with great difficulty as the seared slash across her chest began to throb.

"Ngh…" After taking three steps forward, she fell face first on the snow. She could hear the beating of her heart as the white storm piled snow on her body as her breathing was becoming slower and slower. 'I can't… die… here…'

She extended her hand forward and with the last ounce of magic she had, she put all in one explosive spell.

"Flames of destruction heed my call… flow through time and await thy end- Delayed Fire Blast!"

She summoned a blue fire orb the size of a golf ball a few meters ahead of her and the moment she finished casting, her consciousness waned. Leaving her laying on the snow motionless.

Back in the cavern, the silent spacious room rumbled just like the sound of a distant explosion. Startled, Arthur jolted up awake from the shaking of the floor beneath him. He looked around before tapping his sister on the shoulder multiple times.

"Sis wake up, I think something happened outside."

"Nnnnngh… Art, I told you many times to not do that." She sat up and scratched the corner of both of eyes. "What did you hear that made you so agitated?"

"I'm heading outside."

Phoebe's voice came from the inventor's left side. She was armed with daggers in each hand as she made a dash towards the entrance.

"Wait!" Athena tried to stop her but it was for nothing. Instead she turned to her brother. "Let's go after her."

"R-right."

She haphazardly picked her ammunition pouch and ran to keep up with the high elf while her brother stumbled right behind her. After running to the entrance of the cave, Athena was almost out of breath while both Phoebe and Arthur seemed fine.

The inventor braced her rifle while looking around for potential enemies while the high elf kneeled to inspect the snow. A freezing breeze hit against Athena's pale cheeks sending chills down her spine.

"Leo can't possibly be out here right? Even with this clothing I'm feeling the cold in my bones."

"I wouldn't doubt that." Phoebe replied as she stood up, looking down the hill where they came from with the motorized snow sledge. "There are two different footprints here and it was somewhat recent, I think Princess might have gone down that way."

"Wait, are you planning to go out there by yourself?"

"It's her life on the line and I'm not risking letting her die out there for nothing. If you want you can stay here and wait but I'm going after her."

Without wasting any time she took off at full sprint, the snow didn't seem to hinder her movements.

"Dammit." Athena clenched her teeth. "Are they out of their minds?"

"What are we going to do sis?"

"We wait and hope that they come back in one piece, going out in a storm like this is asking to die."

Arthur looked the way Phoebe went, he clutched his right hand to his chest.

"I hope they come back alive."

The inventor turned around whilst shaking her head, asking herself what could've made Leona go outside in such weather. Meanwhile Arthur kept staring in the same direction until his sister called him inside. He then turned around and went in, leaving the entrance of the cave to gather snow from the storm.

About two hundred meters from the cave, Phoebe was still making her way through the sea of snow that only increased in height as time passed, both serving to erase the footprints and slow her down.

The storm was pelting her right side nonstop, almost making her fall at times when the wind picked up speed.

'Where could she have gone to?' Her mind was racing to find a possible answer, but all seemed to not make any sense. 'If it was an enemy, she could run back and wake us up. But if it was an ally, she would've brought them inside. Then if it wasn't either…'

She stopped once she felt a faint smell of burned wood. She looked to her right and noticed a giant part of scorched earth near some burnt trees on the edge of the forest.

"Wait…"

Her eyes glanced a bit more to the right, seeing how the scorched mark seemed to funnel into one direction. Without wasting any time she jumped from the snow on the drier ground, using it to traverse quicker than if she was to go through the sea of white.

After sprinting a fair distance, she came across a person lying face first on the ground.

"Princess!" She shouted but there was no reaction from her. Without even turning her around, she cast a restorative spell. "Heal!"

A faint green light seemed to permeate Leona's body, but she was still unresponsive. Phoebe touched her cold body, hurriedly turned her over and noticed the horrible scar beginning from her left clavicle down towards the waist, the military uniform was cut perfectly without any hint of resistance, whatever did that to her was much more deadly than a thug armed with a sword. Beside her, there was the hilt of a longsword stuck in the snow with a piece of dirty old cloth wrapped near the end of it.

'What happened here…?'

Without the means to ascertain if there were still enemies nearby, she picked Leona up on her arms and started to make her way back as fast as she could through the snow. However, since she was carrying her there was no feasible way to traverse through the knee-high snow without slowing down, she began to chant a wind spell.

"Winds of time, bestow thy grace upon this tired body, Steps of Wind!"

Gusts of wind gathered around her feet seemingly levitating her through the air as each step she took became lighter and lighter until she was almost no longer touching the snow.

Once the spell was in effect, she started to run as fast as she could with Leona between her arms. The wind was beginning to pick up speed again, painting the whole scenery white and dropping the temperature even further; however even while wearing the fur coat on top of her armor, she could still feel the biting cold wind rushing through her clothing.

It was already difficult to move in such low temperature, but it was especially hard on her body to keep up the speed whilst carrying Leona as she could feel her arms going numb each second it passed.

'My stamina can't keep up with this… but if I don't save her, what will become of sire Krieg?'

The high elf clenched her teeth in order to push her body to its limits, even with the help of the levitation magic, she was just barely keeping them above the snow with a forward arching back as the weight of the tactician was starting to become very apparent in her tired arms. In the back of her mind she knew that if Leona died there it could be the end of her alliance with Krieg, causing her to not only lose an important ally, but also her only means to approach the magician who taught Kaeli the spells she knows today.

If Phoebe was to kill her, she needed to know her weakness. That was how she proceeded with every target for assassination and her sister was just that, another target of a personal contract for herself.

She was so focused on getting back to the cave as fast as she could that she didn't notice that wolves were gathering around her, flanking from both sides as they ran to match up the high elf's speed.

"Huh?!" She saw movement coming from beyond the thick snow storm from the corner of her eye, giving her enough time to stop in her tracks as a growling wolf pounced towards where she would be. "Dammit not now!"

She reached for her throwing needles within her clothing but another wolf jumped and bit her right arm before she could pull them out.

"Argh!"

Without being given much choice she let go of Leona, who fell with her back against the snow, and with her left hand she punched its nose, making it yelp before letting go for a split second which was enough time for her to pull and throw some poison coated needles at it as it backed away. Unfortunately due to the bite, the projectiles didn't have enough force behind them to pierce through the animal's thick fur.

"Tsk."

She drew her daggers as she sensed the presence of another two wolves behind her, making it a total of four against her.

'This isn't good… I have to kill at least one of them fast, if I do that the others should turn up and flee.'

The wolves pack were smart, they slowly circled around Phoebe, making use of the storm to conceal their big frame whilst looking for openings. Though after some time of observing, it was clear they noticed Leona being unconscious as one of them tried to approach her before the high elf tossed poison needles aimed for its eyes but the strong winds made it almost impossible to land a perfect hit.

Fighting against a group of enemies wasn't her forte, especially in an open field, she was the type to rely on stealth and confusion to make the most of her poisons and blades, but the odds were stacked against her this time.

Not only did she have to worry about herself, but Leona was also in danger of being killed.

"Princess you've got to wake up!" She yelled. "Else we die here for nothing!"

One of the wolves pounced at her throat. She barely dodged sideways and with her left dagger, slashed upwards at its sides partially cutting the flesh as it yelped in pain, she then followed up with a forward stab with her right dagger, hitting deep in the beast's stomach.

It was badly injured but before she could finish it off another wolf had rotated around her back and pounced at her.

'I don't have enough time to dodge!'

She was ready to sacrifice her left forearm in order to block the bite, but as soon as she lifted it, a blinding flash of blue light decapitated the pouncing wolf midair, showering her with blood.

"Pff- Argh!"

Phoebe spitted out blood that happened to spray on her mouth, she didn't understand what happened but at least she had her forearm spared. She glanced to the side of where the light came from and Leona was standing with her right leg forward while a blade of light blue mana was dissipating from between her hands. However as soon as the light dissipated she fell on her right knee with her left hand holding on the left knee.

"Aaah… haa…" Leona was panting, each time she exhaled a puff of warm air came out from her mouth. "I did it…"

As if shocked from the sudden death of one of their own, the rest of the wolves began to flee, scattering through the storm to avoid being slashed. Phoebe rushed to Leona's side as she was about to fall on the snow, she managed to hold the tactician's arm and put it around her own neck to help her shoulder the weight.

"Princess Leona, are you alright?"

"Yes. Mostly." She reached for her own chest, it was as if warmth was radiating from her. "I had help from another ruler."

"Huh?"

Leona chuckled as she shook her head for herself.

"Nevermind what I said. Let's get out of this cold."

Phoebe nodded regardless and started to slowly walk while shouldering the tactician's body. The walk back was fortunately uneventful and thanks to the warmth that Leona was emitting, they reached the cave without having to worry of freezing to death from the storm. As soon as they entered the treasure room again, they were greeted by an anxious Athena pointing the rifle at them.

"Ah, you're back. Thank the heavens." She lowered her gun. "I would ask why you went outside in this frigid hell but the wolf carcass behind concerns me more."

Phoebe had tied the dead wolf's hindlegs with a long cord to her shoulders like a backpack to drag it back to the cave.

"What?" Phoebe asked. "It's food."

Athena's face frowned in disgust, she never considered those beasts as a source of nourishment. But what could she do about it? There were only a couple of scraps of food left from the bandits and those were also on the verge of spoiling. She didn't have the luxury to be picky about it.

After a bit of dirty work, the high elf skinned the wolf open with her dagger, separating organs, muscles and bones neatly around the campfire. She then began to cook the bones and tendons inside a large cook pot she fetched from the snow sledge over the fire, meanwhile she picked the muscle meat with the tip of her dagger and cooked it over the campfire like an improvised skewer.

"How do you even know how to separate all of this?" Athena was taken aback by how quickly Phoebe dissected the animal into edible parts. "I thought you were an assassin not a hunter."

"It's a necessary skill if you live walking from place to place." The high elf replied as she took a bite of the well-done chunk of meat hanging by the blade of her dagger. "Besides, it's better to know how to hunt and prepare your own food lest you die from hunger."

That statement didn't make the inventor feel any more at ease from looking at the dismembered wolf parts, but the hunger was starting to win her over as she found herself holding a cut of meat over the fire.

"Cook it well-done." Phoebe advised. "You don't want to have food poisoning out here."

"Yeah I'm doing that."

Leona silently watched them from the side, she wasn't feeling hungry, nor cold, even without wearing a proper fur coat like the high elf. It was as if her body became much lighter, she stared at her palms feeling as if her body was different somehow, but she couldn't quite explain how.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

'Miyamoto entrusted me with this power, but why, why would he trust me of all people?' She thought for herself as she recalled how she decapitated a wolf from meters away by shaping her mana into a blade. 'Krieg, even Phoebe, any of them would be more suited to this than I.'

The moment she opened her eyes, she was looking from the top of a cliff. A city below with an endless spread of flames, she never saw such a place but her instincts knew where it was.

'Nara.'

She thought.

The largest city in the eastern land was devastated in a matter of days, with the continuous attacks of death angels, there was nothing anyone could do, except for one man.

"My lord!"

Leona heard a familiar female voice come from behind her. As she turned around, she noticed it was the same oni woman from the swordmaster's memories.

"Yuna. Flee this place, you are to take my wife and son to somewhere safe near the shores of nara."

Miyamoto was standing with his back to the servant, he was staring at a gravestone with strange calligraphy engraved upon it and even though it was written in a foreign language, she could somehow read it as Yoshitsune Asura.

"But my lord! You can't possibly be considering fighting all by yourself?!"

"It is my duty as emperor to protect my subjects. Even if it costs my life, I'll bring it all to bear if it means to bring peace to my kingdom. To my family." He turned his head slightly in order to meet his servant's pleading eyes. "Go, this is my last order. Save those who can and live on, no matter what it takes, tell them to keep fighting, through man's own will we shall live on."

She was hesitating. It was clear she didn't want to abandon him but it was an order she couldn't refuse. She bowed one last time.

"Stay safe, my lord."

She stood up and turned around, sprinting with all her might through the narrow path of the cliff. Once Leona looked towards the swordmaster she could feel a faint sense of malice coming off from him. Looking more attentively, she noticed he was silently praying to the gravestone, his left hand close to his chest as miasma started to pour out of the grave, enveloping his drawn blade until the metal became folded in darkness.

"If I must become one of them to destroy these angels, so be it. By this blade I swear my name to the ruler of the darkest abyss, Asura hearken to me, lend me your bottomless might!"

As if listening to his plea, the miasma took the shape of his body, fusing to his being like a mantle covering his body. Once the ritual was complete, he turned around, as his eyes met the tactician's it was as if he knew that she was there, but he proceeded down the steep path towards the burning city.

"This was my turning point." The swordmaster's voice rang inside her mind. "The beginning of the end…"

Once she blinked again she was back in the dark cold cavern, Phoebe was conversing with Athena as if nothing happened. Upon staring at her own hands she realized it was a dream, though it was much more vivid than normal.

'So that was Nara…' She thought. 'Lastraeous did say to seek out his former champion there. But if that was the case, why would he send me to such a desolate place?'

Things didn't seem to add up, the self proclaimed true god was never really worthy of trust, but at the same time his words always pointed her in the right direction somehow. Making her seek someone in the ruins of a lost civilization seemed a bit strange.

She looked down to both of her hands, her eyes had a faint light blue glint under the irises, allowing her to see traces of lingering mana from the blade attack she unleashed earlier. It was as if she had acquired something that allowed her to have a better grasp on the mana of her own body.

"Princess, are you sure you don't need to eat?"

Phoebe approached her with a bowl of bone broth, there were chunks of meat and pieces of bone floating on the surface of the deep brown soup, it wasn't particularly good-looking and the smell wasn't anything special either but it was edible.

"I'll pass, thank you Phoebe."

Their eyes met for a moment and the high elf tilted her head slightly.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" She was surprised by the sudden question, it made her wonder if she was frowning her face without noticing herself. "Yeah, aside from the throbbing of the wound in my chest, I'm feeling mostly okay, why do you ask?"

"You just seem different somehow, as if you experienced much more than just an exchange of blows back there."

"Oh…" Leona glanced down to her worn boots, compared to what Miyamoto went through, her tale seemed more of a joke. Not that she could tell Phoebe that she could see the memories of a long past ruler of a far forgotten place. "I've just been thinking about the things that happened lately and how I must improve if I want to stay alive."

The high elf nodded slowly.

"Well, power does have its perks. But without eating a proper meal you won't be able to grow stronger." She left the bowl on the floor beside the tactician. "Eat it before it gets cold."

Without saying another word, she left Leona to her thoughts as she went back to tend the campfire. Athena was struggling to eat the bowl of food given to her as she could barely stand the smell of the meat.

"Gah, what is this ungodly smell?!" The inventor complained. "My sweaty socks after a day of work smell better than this!"

"Stop complaining and eat." Phoebe sat down and threw another piece of broken chair in the fire. "You should be thankful to have something edible to chew on rather than sit there with an empty stomach."

"Guh…"

A small smile appeared on Leona's face as she looked at them from afar. She wasn't feeling particularly hungry, but nevertheless it was a good idea to heed to the high elf's words. No warrior, no matter how great, could stand without eating the most basics of meals and deep down she knew she was no different.

'Well… I better eat this then.'

She reached for the bowl and noticed the distinct smell of wolf meat. It was a gamey scent, but not too off putting for her as she had already some experience with bear and deer meat which weren't similar in smell, but worse in gaminess. She wiped her right index and thumb against the collar of her jacket and picked a piece of meat floating in the broth, scalding her fingers slightly in the process.

'Here goes nothing.'

She took a bite as she gasped hot air out of her mouth. The taste was somewhat similar to the bear meat, though the taste was far less strong; it had the typical carnivore musky scent to it.

Without turning her nose she kept eating, slurping on the bone marrow and drinking the nutrient rich broth until there was no more.

After Phoebe finished heating up the cooking pot, she laid back against the pile of gold coins to eat just before seeing Leona approach the campfire with an empty bowl in hand.

"Can I have some more?" The tactician asked her. "I was more hungry than I thought."

The high elf chuckled.

"Sure, let me serve you."

With Athena's complaints and the sound of crackling fire, they rested for the day.