---
The chapel ruins were too quiet.
Too still.
Crows perched atop the crumbling stone cross above them, as if waiting for something to die. The Mourning Tree loomed nearby—not large, but pulsing with something unnatural. Its bark was dark as charred bone, twisted in a way that made Laraine's skin crawl.
Vi's voice purred in her mind.
{Reminder, User: Touching cursed flora is usually dumb. Just in case your brain forgot.}
"I'm not touching it," Laraine muttered. "I'm just… observing."
"You talk to yourself a lot," Elise said behind her, arms crossed.
"I talk to the voices in my head. They're smarter."
Elise snorted. "Right. Because that makes it less weird."
She stepped closer to the twisted tree, eyeing it warily. "This thing looks like it eats dreams."
"I think it eats worse."
Laraine took a cautious step forward—and promptly tripped over a very solid, very well-placed stone.
{Oops~ That was me. I regret nothing.}
Her boot caught.
She pitched forward, arms flailing—
—and landed directly on top of Elise, palms slapping squarely against her chest.
There was a pause.
A long, dreadful pause.
"…Are these C cups?" Laraine blurted before she could stop herself.
Elise went scarlet. "WHAT?!"
"GET. OFF!"
Laraine scrambled back like she'd been electrocuted. "It was Vi's fault! I swear!"
{Classic. Blame the talking artifact.}
Elise clutched her chest, still red. "I don't know what that means but you are never allowed to fall near me again."
{Totally worth it.}
But the humor drained fast. The Mourning Tree loomed ahead, its bark whispering secrets she didn't want to hear. Against her better judgment, Laraine reached out—and touched it.
The bark was cold.
Then—
FLASH.
Adana's voice slammed into her skull.
"You are nothing. That's all you'll ever be."
FLASH.
She was on the palace floor, bleeding, begging, choking on sobs.
"You think blood makes you powerful? That your little tantrums make you feared?"
FLASH.
Her father turning his back. Guards dragging her away. Her name already forgotten.
"No one will remember you, little ghost. Not even the worms."
Laraine yanked her hand back, gasping, fire dancing at her fingertips.
And that was when it happened.
Her illusion shimmered—just for a heartbeat. The false brown of her hair melted into a soft blue glow.
Elise blinked. "Wait—what was that?"
But someone else had seen it too.
In the broken shadows of the chapel walls, Vienna stood.
Hidden.
Watching.
Eyes wide.
It had only been a second.
But it was enough.
That hair.
That cursed blue.
She'd seen it once—drenched in blood the night she killed Laraine.
And now… that same girl was standing again.
Alive.
---
Vienna didn't move.
Couldn't.
Her heart hammered in her ears, louder than the crows, louder than the silence.
It couldn't be Laraine.
It made no sense.
And yet…
The memory rose unbidden—Laraine laughing, radiant and fierce. Then crying. Bleeding. Reaching for her as Vienna drove the blade in.
Vienna had felt nothing then.
She wasn't sure what she felt now.
But it burned.
---
Laraine wiped sweat from her brow, her heartbeat thudding like war drums.
"You okay?" Elise asked softly.
Laraine nodded too quickly. "Yeah. Just… tree stuff."
"You're a terrible liar."
Before she could reply, Vi slithered in:
{Update: Disguise integrity—71%. Would recommend not having emotional breakdowns near haunted shrubbery.}
'Vi—'
{Also, there's a dagger drawn in the shadows. Left side. Twenty feet. Very sharp. Very pointy.}
Laraine turned slightly.
No movement.
But she felt it—eyes on her. Like a ghost she couldn't shake.
She tucked her hair beneath her hood.
"Let's go," she said. "Before something else decides to whisper my tragic backstory at me."
---
Elsewhere, leaning against the chapel's outer wall…
Vienna dug her nails into her palm.
That flicker of blue had been real.
So were the memories rushing back with a vengeance.
She remembered Laraine's fire. Her defiance.
She remembered her scream.
If that was truly her—
If Laraine was alive—
Then Vienna hadn't finished the job.
And for the first time since the night she killed her…
She wasn't sure she wanted to.
---
Back in the village, Old Ma Kerva's hut reeked of moss and attitude. She looked like a walking bundle of angry roots wrapped in patchwork scarves.
"You're the one who touched it," she said, not looking up from her herbs. "I felt it. The land stirred."
"The land's always angry," Laraine muttered.
"No." Kerva's eyes snapped to hers. "You woke something."
Before she could respond, Kerva reached beneath the table and pulled out a dagger—long, carved from bone and ironwood, dark as the Mourning Tree itself.
"Take it."
"…Why?"
"To cut what doesn't want to die."
Laraine took it, the hilt warm to the touch.
---
QUEST COMPLETED: WHISPERS IN THE ROOTS
• EXP +250
• Item Acquired: Rootcut Dagger (Rare)
• Elise Affection +2
• World Instability: +3%
• Vienna's Suspicion: +12
{ And the plot thickens. Like stew. Or blood. Mmm.~}
---
As they made their way back toward the inn, Elise nudged her.
"You're quiet."
"I'm thinking."
"Monster tree or mysterious assassin?"
"…Both."
Elise stopped walking.
"I don't know what you're hiding," she said, tone soft but serious. "But I hope it's not the kind of secret that'll get us both killed."
Laraine hesitated.
Then—truthfully—"I don't know either."
---
Meanwhile…
In the heart of Luxria's gold-tipped palace, Queen Adana watched her scrying basin shimmer.
Birthmere.
Fire.
A flicker of blue.
Her lips curled.
"Well, well, little rat," she whispered. "Still scurrying."
She leaned forward.
And began to plan.
---