Narrator's POV.
"Are you ready to leave, Messenger?"
The Messenger's silver eyes remained in the now empty cup in his hands for a second before he looked up at the Scholar looking down at him, book hugged in one arm.
"I am" He answered setting down the cup on the floor before standing up. "Let's go"
"You won't even say bye or something?" The Adventurers spoke slightly offended.
On the other side of the fire, The Adventurer just looked at him plainly and apparently offended, while at her side, The Priest smiled somewhat nervously.
"If the hot chocolate was bad just say it"
"...I liked it" He answered.
"Ah! U-uhm...good then! If you ask nicely I'll give you more another time" She immediately stood up smoothing out her clothes.
"Please, take care Messenger" The Priest smiled at the silver-eyed man.
"You too, Priest" The Messenger answered before walking to the door.
"We'll be taking our leave" The Scholar bowed before following the man.
She reached the door and slowly opened it, letting The Messenger walk through it before she did the same, closing the door behind her leaving both her and the young man in what seemed to be a short hall.
"You will be moving to the next floors then?" The woman asked towards The Messenger.
"Yes, you said you'd remain here to read what you still hadn't, right?"
"Mhm, but now that you've told me there were 2 more libraries in the higher floors, I'll be moving up once I finish reading the first one, if you are nearby, could I ask you to let me go with you once it's time?" She asked again, gaining a small nod from the young man. "Thank you, since you...studied the layout of the castle, I assume you won't need me to tell you where the stairs are"
"You're right, I'll be going now, good luck on whatever you're researching here Scholar, but be careful" He said before starting to walk down the hall.
"Don't worry Messenger...I know what I'm doing, good luck to you too"
....
His short journey to the 10th floor didn't have anything interesting, perhaps because the Scholar had already previously taking care of the abominations on that floor.
"This place..."
But the 10th floor was something he didn't exactly expect...
"The ballroom"
His silver eyes immediately looked around himself as he walked deeper into the huge room, various tables placed across the ballroom, the long red carpet that spread across its center, the big windows that showed the cold outside while the few broken ones let some snow slip through.
"This should be above the 30th floor...did they move it down here?" He asked himself before he stopped walking. "No...it's not that"
A table was knocked over and an abomination gurgled with a scream, the body was grotesquely wounded and with additional limbs and eyes, and with his scream, more abominations started to get up and immediately look at The Messenger.
"They're getting less human" he noted before unsheathing his sword.
The abominations started to close in and The Messenger instantly moved to attack, his short sword sliced one in half, another attacked him from behind but he quickly turned around to stab it right on the head.
There were around a dozen abominations closing in and the ones he had just taken out were already dissolving into the ground turning into mist, The Messenger looked behind him as another abomination lunged at him to attack, but before it reached him, a sharp weapon sliced it completely in half from the side.
The long-bladed katana sliced right across the abomination splitting it in half, The Messenger's silver eyes locked onto the new person that had just assisted him.
It was a man, taller than him, most of his body was covered in a red plated armor already tainted with some rust, the chest place covered his entire torso, his arms and legs covered in that same armor while his head was hidden by a round helmet, a single red rusted plate covered the upper half of his head while the lower half was seemingly broken, showing the man's nose and mouth.
The two of them stared at each other for a second in complete silence but as the abominations started to attack, they responded by doing the same.
The Messenger and the armored warrior ran right past the other, the shortsword sliced and stabbed the monsters easily killing them with a single attack, while the long-bladed katana precisely sliced them with almost blinding speed, cutting them in half, decapitating them or cutting off their limbs before killing them with a stab while they're down.
The last of the abominations was cut in half by the waist by the long katana of the warrior in red armor, he gave a step back and sliced the air to get the blood off his blade before sheathing it back and turning around to look at The Messenger who still had his weapon in hand.
But behind him, the upper half of the corpse he had just taken down started to shake and convulse, the open wound that cut it in half started to apparently boil before a set of small tendrils came out and lunged at the warrior who turned around and got ready to unsheathe his katana yet again.
But the flying sword of The Messenger went past him and stabbed the abomination on the head, stopping the tendrils in place before they fell to the ground completely dead this time, the armored warrior let go of his weapon and just stared as The Messenger walked past him and grabbed his shortsword.
The Messenger just sheathed his sword, watching the corpse dissolve into mist before he looked at the exit of the ballroom and started to walk towards it.
"Wait"
But as he was halfway to the exit, the armored warrior spoke, turning around, The Messenger looked at him, seeing how the tall man in armor had already driven his hand towards the handle of his katana.
"You...are strong" He spoke lowly with his hand closing around the weapon unsheathing it just a tiny bit.
"And you're a Warrior from the east" The Messenger talked back to the Warrior. "andIwon't unsheathe my weapon"
"....you know" The Warrior then sheathed his weapon, standing straight to look at him.
"I do, warriors from the east do not unsheathe nor attack someone who doesn't do the same" The Messenger spoke before turning back towards the exit of the ballroom.
"It's weird to meet people who know of our customs" He said walking towards The Messenger. "Who are you?"
"I'm a Messenger, you can call me that, and eastern warriors don't leave their birthplace much...but their stories still reach many places" He said walking out of the ballroom with The Warrior behind him. "Especially to those who are interested in knowing about The Red Sea"
"...I see"
"You should rest, Warrior, it seems you've been fighting non-stop"
"I arrived at this place just a few hours ago...I'm looking for a strong enemy, I believe reaching the higher floors will allow me to find one" The Warrior spoke.
"You'd be right with that, these abominations are getting stronger and less human, but you should still rest, there are some doors that lead to a safe room where you can rest" The Messenger said starting to walk up the stairs that'd take them to the 11th floor.
"I'll keep that in mind..."
"There are also other people in this castle, an Adventurer, a Priest and a Scholar, if you can, try to not antagonize them"
"As long as they don't"
The two of them moved together across the 11th floor rather easily, occasionally stumbling across abominations that fell quickly against them, which allowed them to reach the stairs of the 12th floor after just a few minutes.
"Why are you here, Messenger?" The Warrior asked him as they started to walk up the stairs.
"I have to deliver a letter to the Lord of this castle"
"I see...I heard this castle is old, so is that letter...a show of respect to the fallen Lord?"
"I don't know, I just have to reach the top of this castle and meet the Lord, what the letter says is not important to me"
"You're too trusting..."
"It's not trust...this Letter is just a key to a door" The Messenger said in a low voice as they reached the end of the stairs.
"I see...I assume that's one of the doors you spoke of?"
The Messenger looked to the side, seeing one of the doors covered in holy symbols that marked it as an entrance to the safe room.
"It is..." He answered before walking towards the door.
The Warrior just silently followed behind him, reaching the door, he twisted the handle and opened the door seeing The Adventurer, The Priest and The Scholar inside of the room.
"Ah, Messenger, you're back" The Priest smiled before his eyes landed on The Warrior behind him. "Hmmm, that man"
"I stumbled across him a little while ago" He said as he fully entered the room, letting the Warrior enter behind him as the door closed.
"He's...a little scary-looking, no offense" The Adventurer smiled nervously.
"A warrior from the east?" The Scholar perked up setting a book at her side.
"From the east?" The Adventurer looked at the other woman a little confused.
The Messenger and The Warrior walked towards the fire, The Messenger sat down on the snow in front of the fireplace to which The Adventurer decided to scurry a little closer to him as she looked The Warrior sit on the other side of the fireplace, taking his weapon and setting it down on the floor.
"The Warriors from the East as their name say, are a community of warriors that live on the East edge of the continent" The Scholar spoke pushing her glasses up. "They're strong, tied to their honor and are fierce believers and followers of The Red Sea"
"The Red Sea is one of the Primordial Entities of our world, Lady Adventurer" The Priest added while looking at the young woman. "Primordial Entities embody aspects of our world, the Green Glow embodies life and The Silver Mist embodies death, they're the most important entities of our world"
"The Red Sea..." The Warrior spoke looking at the Adventurer. "It's the place where every single drop of spilled blood goes to, be it man, woman, beast or monster, the blood of everything will end up there"
"It sounds...a little evil" The Adventurers grimaced a little.
"Haha! We can't judge these entities with our mortal morals, The Red Sea embodies blood, and blood is very much important for us, Lady Adventurer, our hearts need it and it is the tool for many rituals and magic" The Priest laughed a little before sitting a little straighter. "Alongside those three, The Golden Clouds is the entity that the Church prays to, while it embodies simple clouds, these same clouds bring rain, lightning and snow, and the Golden Clouds themselves filter the sun and spread its warmth across everything"
"So...there really isn't something that can be called evil?" The young woman looked a little curious.
"That's right! Even the Purple Moon, the entity that embodies both Mystery and Ecstasy cannot be judged that way, they're all entities beyond our comprehension, and even if we had a way of talking to them, I doubt we'd even understand their words" The Scholar said before looking at The Warrior. "And the Warriors of the East understand that perfectly"
"They do...and not many hold the rank of this one" The Messenger added also looking at The Warrior. "He must've killed dozens of Eastern Warriors to make that armor"
"Everything is just a little eerie..." The Adventurer sighed. "I'm even afraid of asking"
"Warriors from the east are trained since childhood, once they reach their teen years they are given Red Coins, these coins are seen as a representation of the Red Sea and their devotion to it" The Scholar was going to continue but The Warrior spoke next.
"The Red Sea embodies blood...and while every blood goes there, not all blood is pure, we Warriors train and devout ourselves to send noble and honorable blood to it as thanks for its existence" The Warrior said putting a hand over his chest plate. "This armor is made from the same Red Coins we're given, coins I gained from duels against other Eastern Warriors"
"So you just...kill people in duels to send that honorable blood to the Red Sea?" The young woman grimaced. "That just sounds...wrong"
"It might, but for us, is the only thing we can do for the Red Sea, to make sure that pure blood gets there, even if It's our own" The Warrior said with his gaze lowering a little. "Which is why I came here..."
"I doubt you came to spill the blood of these abominations" The Priest's gaze softened a little. "Could it be that the blood you came to spill is your own?"
"....it is" The Warrior answered after a second of silence. "Our culture is not perfect, we know it is not, and I'm sure many believe the same, but it's what we choose...So when my brother fell mortally ill 2 months ago we decided to give him a proper death, I challenged him to a duel...he's the one who broke my helmet" He said aiming at the broken lower half of the red rusty helmet.
"You were going to kill your own brother?!" The Adventurer raised her voice.
"I was going to, for our people, dying with Honor means that our blood will remain pure for when it arrived at the Red Sea but I...I failed" He said letting the room drown in silence for a few seconds. "In the middle of our duel...my brother died and I failed him and our entire family"
"Your brother lost his honor by dying from an illness, and you failed your family, none of you have pure blood for the Red Sea" The Messenger concluded making the Warrior nod.
"After that happened...I left my home and started to travel, in search of a duel or enemy that could take my life but I can't simply die against someone stronger than me...I need to fight something so impossible to defeat that even the Red Sea trembles at my blade" He said slowly reaching out to his blade, holding the sheath in his hand. "Only that way, both me and my brother would be able to rest in peace"
"How..." The Adventurer's voice came out low. "How can all of you just accept death like that?"
"It's what they choose, Adventurer" The Scholar spoke putting a hand on The Warrior's shoulder. "What this man wants is just to make up for his brother and himself"
"By dying?!" The young woman immediately stood up. "Why does he even need to die?! Can't he just fight and beat some random strong people for that?!"
"It doesn't work like that, Adventurer" The Priest said looking up at her. "Their culture might sound simple, but it much more profound than we think, what happened is just unfortunate"
"So it was just bad luck?! Only for that he has to—" She looked down at the Priest but then she looked away. "N-No one should die just for that...everyone should die of old age surrounded by their loved ones"
"Young Adventurer" The Warrior spoke towards the girl. "I know you might not accept this, but like many others in my home...it's what I choose, and I accept my fate"
"...you're right...I don't like it"
Before someone else could say anything else, The Adventurer walked towards the door of the safe room and opened it quickly walking through it, leaving the door opened.
"She looked more than just offended..." The Scholar sighed. "I know that look, she was...scared, I believe death must be a personal matter for her"
"She's young and yet she..." The Priest closed his eyes before he looked at The Messenger. "Messenger...I believe you should go and check on our Lady Adventurer"
"She's on a lower floor, Priest" The Messenger answered.
"Go to her!" The Scholar sternly looked at him. "You two look around the same age, she might open up more to you than to us"
"This Warrior came with you, after you return, you can go back up with him" The Priest said looking at The Warrior who nodded his head.
"If I can help you, I will wait, Messenger" The armored man added.
"...fine"
Under the sight of the other three, The Messenger stood up from the ground and walked towards the still open door, walking through it and closing it, finding himself at the end of a short hall.
"The 8th floor...so she'd gotten here already" he thought to himself as he started to walk.
He didn't have to walk too far until he started to hear some sobs and almost silent weeping, he looked to his left, seeing a half-open door to what seemed to be a room for servants, he carefully opened the door and saw The Adventurer on the corner of the room, back pressing against the wall as her knees pressed against her chest and she hid her face in her arms.
Looking at her, The Messenger approached. "...are you okay?"
The girl stopped and looked up at him, quickly brushing the tears off her face. "W-What do you think?"
"I think you're not okay" he answered.
"Why did you even ask then?!" She looked at him a little angry before sighing. "I-I'm sorry...you came here to check up on me and I'm screaming at you"
"It's okay, I didn't want to come anyways"
"....you are too blunt, you know?" She sobbed a little as a small tear dripped down her left cheek. "Can I...tell you something?"
"Okay"
"Is that all you're going to say?" She asked but The Messenger just stared at her. "Of course it is...I don't think I even need to ask but...do you have any friends?"
"No"
"Of course you don't...I don't know if I cry for me or for you" she quickly brushed off the tear and rested her head on her arms. "I...had friends, I have been an Adventurer for 4 years already, I started young with some friends I had in my village and I...I was the one meant to take care of the sneaky stuff, opening locks, checking for traps, stealing from monsters or bad people...that was what I had to do"
Her eyes silently locked onto the bracelet on her left wrist, some tears already starting to form and drip down her cheeks as she remained in place.
"Last year we went to an old dungeon, like always, I went on the front to check for traps or secret walls" The Adventurer started to cry. "We reached a hidden room a-and I should've checked better...I-I should've realized sooner that there was a second trap in the room, I couldn't even process what had happened until I felt them pushing me out of the way"
"...they died to save you"
"They did...I was meant to make sure they didn't have to worry about that kind of thing and I...I failed them" she hid her face in her arms starting to cry again. "They had friends and people that waited for them at home...I ruined all of that, I couldn't even go back to our village to tell everyone what happened because I couldn't bear to see their faces after telling them it was my fault, I was too afraid..."
"It's okay to cry over their deaths...but they died to save you, so you have to take responsibility over that" He spoke plainly to the crying woman.
"W-What?" She briefly stopped to look up at him.
"Every life has value because at some point it will end, all of you could've died in that place, but instead, they decided that saving you was for the better, that means you now carry the value of their lives alongside your own...." His silver eyes closed a little. "They were your friends, what kind of life do you think they would've wanted for you?"
"...they..." Her gaze lowered to the bracelet around her wrist. "They would've wanted me to keep adventuring, like how we always did, exploring dungeons, getting weird loot, fighting ugly monsters and...being happy...this magic bracelet, my scarf and weapon are not mine..."
"They belong to your party" The Messenger said making her nod her head.
"I took them after burying them...I didn't want to feel alone, thinking that they're with me just by carrying all of this makes me feel less cold..." She brushed the tears off her face and slowly stood up. "Do you really think I can, Messenger? That I...that I can keep living after what happened?"
"Maybe, their lives ended already, there's no changing that, but they loved you...if you loved them too, then respect their choice and live the way they would've wanted you to" The Messenger said slowly walked to the exit of the room.
"I should... apologize to the Warrior" she brushed her arms walking behind him.
"Maybe...but I doubt he felt insulted, just explain everything to them, they'll understand"
"Messenger...."
"Yes?"
"...thank you" She said with a little smile.
After a few seconds of silence he nodded his head. "You're welcome"
"Hey Messenger, How about I become your first friend~?" She said leaning a little closer to him.
"If you want to, Adventurer"
★ ★ ★