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Chapter Text

⊹ ࣪ ˖   ACT I    ⊹ ₊⟡ ⋆

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“Stand back!”

I reached my hand out helplessly as I lied on the cold cobblestone floor, trying to grasp at the figure standing in front of me. A pool of blood crept out from underneath me as I struggled.

I felt a knot in my throat as I choked out whatever I could at the top of my lungs.

“Sophie!-“

My body felt like it was being weighed down by a ton of bricks. This was going to be it then, I guess. I wasn’t strong enough to do anything of use. If only I could have done better, then maybe I wouldn’t be writhing around hopelessly on the ground while my friend took the blow that was meant for me.

But-

There’s no way. 

I don’t care if I’m not strong enough, I’m not going to let them sacrifice themselves for me. This was a mess that I made, and I would be the one to take responsibility.

Mustering up all the strength I could, I sharply extended my hands out, pushing the person in front of me out of the way. Struggling to prop my body up, I turned myself to glance at them before I saw a blue streak moving towards me.

“Please forgive me-”

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“God, I’m such a fucking idiot! I’m so useless, why did that stupid charm pick me, anyway??”

I exclaimed, my hands running hastily through my hair as I paced my room, stopping after a while to pick up the amulet I had on my desk with my shaking hands.

I ran my fingers over the glowing purple gemstone embedded in the golden metal curled around it, before throwing it violently onto my bed, a small thud! sound coming from it.

“I’m nothing special…what did it see in me..?”

My vision blurs as I try to wipe away my tears to no avail.

“My apologies, I’m not interrupting something, am I?”

I turn my head to see the Great Sage, Sophie, standing in my doorway. Shit, how long were they there? They didn’t see my dumb crashout, did they? 

I quickly put myself together before they could notice anything.

“N-nah, I was just…reflecting on my journey, like you told me.”

They sigh, looking pleased with themselves as they lean their large staff against a chair. A warm orangey light shone down on them from the window as they walked over towards me.

“Alright, I’m glad I wasn’t bothering you.”

Sophie sits down on the floor next to me, leaning over to glance at me. They give me a warm and gentle smile that makes me turn away for a moment.

“Sorry. I’m not really used to talking to people up close.”

Getting flustered right now of all times, god, I’m the worst. Sophie holds up their hands and shakes their head.

“No, no, it’s understandable! I used to be just like you after all, so I can relate.” I turn back to look at them coyly, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand.

“Right, yeah...that makes sense.”

They look at me for a moment, furrowing their eyebrows slightly before speaking slowly. “Till..”

Sophie places their hand on my shoulder lightly, making me jump.

“Are you really doing okay? You know, you can tell me if anything is bothering you, right?”

I bit my lip as I picked at my fingernails. Sophie looked genuinely worried about me. Why, though? Someone lower than dirt is not worth worrying about. 

I thought about lying, but I knew deep down they’d be able to tell. Knowing Sophie, they probably wouldn’t stop till they got the truth from me.

“Yeah, I know.”

My lungs feel heavy as I take a breath.

“I…I haven’t been doing that great to be honest. It’s been kind of rough.”

“Do you wanna talk about it?”

I nod slightly. 

“I’ve had so much to worry about lately. It’s been eating away at me for a while and I don’t really know if I can make it all the way to the Dark Lord’s castle. I feel like I’d just…”

“Weigh everyone down?”

I lift my head up to look at Sophie, surprised as they look down at me knowingly.

“Like.. you wouldn’t be of any use to anyone?”

“That’s..how do you know?”

“I’ve felt that way before, back when I was traveling with a group, like you. I left the group after deciding that it would be better for my mental health, and even though we parted ways, I feel much better. You won’t be able to please everyone, after all, so you might as well focus on yourself, right?”

They chuckle to themself. I can feel myself become more at ease in their presence. Sophie’s so understanding, and funny, and kind , and I really-

“It’s kinda funny, y’know? After a while, if you keep trending down a negative path, that is, you won’t even be able to recognize yourself.”

“Hm?”

Shit, I zoned out for a second there. I hope they couldn’t tell, that would be embarrassing.

“And eventually-

-you’ll either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Sophie slides their hands down, gripping my hands lightly in theirs. They lean forward, closer to me.

“It doesn’t matter what path you take though, I’ll still be by you and your friends’ side regardless, because I know you really do care in the long run. I know you’ll make the right decision when it counts.”

I grip their hand tightly, leaning my head over their shoulder. I grip the loose, baggy fabric of their robe.

“Then..I’ll do my best. Please-”

“Please believe in me.”

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Suddenly, I saw a bright, blinding flash of light as I could feel my body being mutilated and contorted into a new shape.

I blink, looking down at my hands, grasping slightly at the long, velvety cape I was wearing and the large stone necklace around it. My long teal hair flowed behind me as I moved.

“Check it out, huh? I feel much stronger than before!”

I laughed as the small figure I towered above looked up at me, a horrified expression painted over their face. I reach down my gloved hand and grab their large hooded robe, pulling them up to face me.

“Well, well, well, look who it is! It’s that good-for-nothing Great Sage!”

They looked delicate and frail in my hand, as if I could crush them to a million pieces in the smallest squeeze.

“Now I’ll finally be able to throw you out like how everyone else threw me out!”

I snap my fingers as I wave them around in my hand, the faces of some others still on the ground flying up behind me, leaving the other ones I spared to flee.

“Till! You have to snap out of it!”

Sophie waves their staff at me, an array of glowing symbols flowing out from the stone in the staff to them.

“Lightni-!!”

I quickly pry the staff out of their hands, tossing it aside like a toothpick.

“Oh, oopsies! My bad, did you want that?” I tease Sophie as I watch their face crumble.

“Whatever, it was fun while it lasted, but I have no use for you anymore.”

I drop Sophie from my hand as they braced for impact-

“Till, you and your friends..”

“You were supposed to be the heroes.”

Hero..

That word repeats in my mind.

Was it important to me?

You’ll either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

“I was supposed to..die…the hero..?”

I turned sharply to look down at the castle floors below me, my former teammates running over to catch the Great Sage.

“Great Sage Sophie, we’ve got you!”

“What? I thought you all fled!”

Anna held up her stave, healing up everyone as Polka readied her wand, gritting her teeth as she shouted up at me.

“No way we’d do that!! Not me, at the very least!”

Espil snagged some hp bananas and mp candies from the fallen foes in the room with us.

“Me too!”

Sophie ran over to grab my old sword that I had dropped before, the blade worn and coated with dried over blood from countless fights before. The new team turned to each other and nodded in solidarity before turning back to me confidently.

“We’re going to beat you, together!”

Polka..Anna…Espil…

They think much too highly of themselves.

“There’s no way, that’s impossible!”

I grit my teeth, conjuring up some fiends to stick the faces I had taken to.

“No it’s not,”

Sophie looks up at me with a soft expression on their face. They smile weakly as they point their new sword at me.

“Because I believe in you.”

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Chapter Text

⊹ ࣪ ˖   ACT II    ⊹ ₊⟡ ⋆

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I readied my sword, adjusting my grip on the hilt as my hands got sweaty.

I swallowed, trying to keep my composure.

This all felt like my fault. I should have talked to Till more about their feelings. There was so much more I was missing. I was supposed to protect her, but I failed miserably, and ended up hurting them more in the process.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell though, there was much to do. It’d been so long that I’ve been in a team that I didn’t know if I could still do it.

I was scared..but I’d have to try.

I point to the girl holding a long wooden wand. 

“You! Ah…mage girl! Do you think you could conjure lightning to attack the fiends?”

“Right, yeah! You betcha..”

The girl waves her wand around before swinging it violently in a large arc, sparks flying from the end. 

“Bang.”

Right on cue a large blue-ish in hue lightning bolt abruptly shoots downward towards one of the fiends.

She twirls around gracefully, almost like a conductor guiding an orchestra to play all in sync, then slams her wand down again, sending another large lightning bolt down on the other fiend. After the smoke from the impact clears, the fiends are still standing, albeit a little bit worn down.

“Ohh, these guys are toughie’s! What should we do next, Sophie?”

“Uhm, let me think.”

I look around quickly, before my eyes land on a shy looking cleric.

“Er…cleric! Can you try to banish the fiends? They don’t have a lot of health, but they are pretty strong.”

“Of course! I’ll do my best.”

The other girl nods to me and the mage, lifting up her staff and spinning it in a circle, glowing yellow rings appearing on the ground around the fiends. 

“Oh Great and Merciful Guardian above, lend me your power to banish these hellspawn below.”

Suddenly a large flash appears and the fiends are pulled downward, almost appearing to be melted into the ground itself.

“Hah..that wore me out…if it’s alright with you, I’m going to sit in the safe spot for a bit.”

The cleric girl walks back behind us, wobbling a bit before sitting down on the rough, cobblestone flooring of the castle, a dark green light shining down on it.

I grin slightly, feeling more comfortable leading a team. It felt weird, sure, but it didn’t feel nearly as suffocating as my old team.

Till did a great job with making their team, everyone was so kind and ready to be counted on.

I turn around and point to the thief next to me.

“Thief! Set up some snares around everyone so that Till can’t attack us.” 

“On it.”

They give me a thumbs-up and expressionlessly start hurriedly setting up some snares around us, before standing up a moment later, brushing some dust off their pants. 

“All done, Great Sage.”

The cleric taps me on the shoulder while the mage stands next to her.

“Should we go attack Till now?”

The cleric whispers as the mage chimes in excitedly.

“Yeah, lemme at her!”

I glance upwards toward Till before turning back to look at the girls.

“…no. She’s…she’s mine to take down.”

I take a step forward, sucking in a shaky breath through my teeth.

“Till!”

I extend my arms outward as I grip my sword tightly, positioning my feet on the ground.

“Let’s dance.”

“Wha-”

Before they can finish, I jump up, swinging my sword in one, long swooping motion, aiming for the Dark Curse’s amulet, which hung on their neck.

Till deflects my attack, grabbing the worn sword I had borrowed from them between their fingers.

“Wow, is that all you had planned? Ooh~ and you sounded oh so confident too, it’s a shame that the show is over already.”

They squeezed the sword at increasing strengths, slowly bending the fragile sword more and more in their grasp.

I grin.

“Unfortunately for you, no, that is in fact not all that I had planned.”

I swing up over the sword right before Till shatters it in their grip and land next to the large amulet. I grip the edges of the stone connecting the broken charm in my hands before looking at the face that used to belong to someone I knew.

“It’s time for you to get out of Till, if that's alright with you?”

I rip the pieces of the amulet apart with all the will I have, the shards of glowing stone breaking as they collapse on the ground.

I feel myself wobble backward as the adrenaline fades from my system.

“Ah..” 

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When I come to, I’m in the arms of someone familiar, with the rest of the group huddled around, peering over to see the condition I was in.

“Till?”

Till perks up, holding me closer to them, their breathing quick and their hands shaky.

“Sophie, I-”

Tears well up in their eyes, streaming down their face and spattering on the cold cobblestone floor beneath.

“I’m so sorry! It’s just, you’re always protecting me, and… if you're partners with someone, you’re supposed to protect the other…. I wanted to finally be able to protect you instead but look where that got me..”

Till tries to wipe the ever growing tears off to no avail. I reach my hand over, tilting their face down as I wipe a tear off.

“Well, that may be a partnership, sure, but if… if you’re wanting to be someone’s partner, then protecting each other should be mutual, yes? That’s what I’m here for.”

I slide my hand down Till’s face, leaning my own in and gently kissing them, before pulling back.

I smile softly as they look at me, somewhat bewildered.

“Even if you feel like nothing, I’ll do my best to make you feel like something.”

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