Chapter 560 - Next

“Your name is Ciel Valentine. We are your friends.”

“Ciel? Uhh... Hm... I-I don't think I am.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don't know. I just have a strong feeling that I am not this Ciel person. Sorry. I don't really understand it myself.”

Viers entertained the possibility that he rescued the wrong person, or Ciel got mind-blended, but after examination, he was leaning on that the problem was Ciel herself.

Memory loss, is it? Hmm... Split personality, more likely. The mind created another personally to protect itself from excessive trauma. Not unheard of.

Viers and the others filled in about what happened to this other Ciel. Gently, since they didn't want to overwhelm her, but it didn't trigger anything. She just didn't remember any of it. She didn't remember her past, Valentine Duchy, being a Silver Legionary, anything. She was a tabula rasa. The gem on her chest that contained the Divine Sword was similarly inert, not responding to anything.

At any rate, Viers was not worried.

Not when this new Ciel turned out to be a Level 0 and no longer a Level 4 Pathseeker, or lost her light affinity.

Her affinity became fire instead. Unlike normal fire, her fire was purplish. Despite that she didn't have any darkness affinity.

Viers was not worried at all. He left the not-Ciel with the girls, especially Paina, Farley and Clarissa. The four of them had a bond of friendship between them. Meanwhile, Viers organized a modest celebration party for his army. This time, he mobilized nearly the sum total of his forces.

It might not be strictly necessary since he was their boss and all, but Viers was adept at managing his employees’ happiness or morale gauge thanks to all the management games he played. Happy subordinates were better. They were more productive and less likely to stab you in the back. He might have been a villain, but there was no need to be a jerk to your own men. It was a stupid thing to do.

A victory feast cost even more money, which would give the economic minister of Arcanum Club, Carlo the Hanged Man, a headache, but it was a sacrifice Viers was willing to make.

He caught up with Boram and the others, visited the wounded and took note about what they needed for treatment, and did a bunch of other leader things.

Viers himself wasn't unhurt after the battle with Red Eyes. However, his healing factor did a good job. Most of his injuries had healed already, but he lost a lot of monster forms and Victa. All in all, this war was a costly one with little gains. Still, sometimes, a man gotta do what a man gotta do.

He didn't rescue Ciel out of love, goodness no, but out of possessiveness.

When he found out Red Eyes meant to subvert Ciel to his side, Viers was livid.

He couldn't stand any form of NTR! Unless he was the one doing it! Fuck that shit and fuck the ones who made it a genre!

And so Viers raised an army and went to war. He didn't regret it one bit.

After the peak of the party, Viers met with not-Ciel again. She was the one approaching him.

“I heard you are the one who rescued me. I don't remember anything, but thank you very much,” she bowed.

“It’s fine. I’m glad you are rescued,” Viers passed on a fresh drink to her. Non-alcoholic.

“You must be disappointed that I’m not Ciel,” she gingerly received the mug. “What do you plan to do with me?”

“Nothing. Disappointed? Not really. You can stay here if you wish. You can also go back to the Church. The choice is yours.”

“Can I really stay here?”

“Yes.”

“I’d like that. Thank you, Mr. Viers. And one more thing.”

“Just call me Viers. What other thing?”

“I need a name,” not-Ciel looked even more sheepish.

“...Shouldn't you choose one for yourself?”

“I, uhh...am still confused about pretty much everything, really. I’m not even sure if I’ll still exist tomorrow. Ciel might wake up and then I might vanish. A name... would be nice.”

“Very well,” Viers nodded and thought for a while. “How about... Alicia?”

“Alicia... Alicia... I like it. I am Alicia,” she smiled. “Thank you again.”

Viers put both of his hands on her shoulders, startling her a little. He looked straight into her eyes, as if peering straight into her soul.

NovelPhoenix carries the chapter published by the author, but this page copied its text without consent.

“Ciel. I don't know if you can hear me or not. I just want you to know that you are safe now and you can rest as long as you like. May you have a good night.”

Of course, there was no answer.

“Now, Alicia. I will not think of you as Ciel’s copy. You are not Ciel’s replacement. I’ll treat you like you are your own person. You do not have to rush, you do not have to prove anything. You can discover your own place in this world at your own pace and decide what you want to be. Meanwhile, this place will always have a warm hearth ready for you.”

It was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.

“T-Thank you... Eh? Wh-why?”

She was confused why tears were falling from the edge of her eyes.

Whose? Alicia or Ciel?

Viers didn't know, but he’d like to think it came from both of them.

***

Ciel’s situation had been resolved.

Not necessarily, but it was as resolved as it can be at this point.

If those from the cults knew of Ciel’s wellness, they would be surprised. Of how little effect their ministrations had on their captive. What was done to Ciel should have changed her soul and nature. She should have become a creature of darkness, or carry substantial taint. Instead, she just had a memory loss? Her condition was miraculously well.

The secret, once again, lay with Viers. Viers and Ciel both, in fact.

As a soulmancer, Viers, more than most, knew how bad Ciel’s condition was. She was almost on the verge of ceasing herself from the very core of her soul.

However, whether it was a quirk of Fate or karma, Viers possessed a piece of Ciel’s soul.

When Ciel initiated an ancient matrimony ritual, she gave a part of her soul to Viers. It was mostly a symbolic thing, but it became something that saved her in the end.

In a way, Ciel’s soul was like a painting that had been defiled until the original picture was no longer recognizable.

A splinter of her soul that Viers possessed was like a snapshot of her original state, when her soul was still healthy.

Like a surgeon, Viers restored Ciel by giving her soul shard back and cleansed it of corruption. In a way, the power of love was the one that saved Ciel.

But, great that he was, he wasn't perfect, especially on the delicate part of the mind.

He suspected that was how the split personality was born. He didn't expect it, or he deliberately caused it. All of it was entirely on Ciel’s part.

That was how things developed, but he was not unfamiliar with Ciel’s condition. It was similar to one Fable that he knew.

This was the Pyra and Mythra situation.

Which was the reason regarded Ciel and Alicia as two different people. Ciel’s split personality was not a soul problem but a mind one. The soul remained singular. Since he wasn't a qualified therapist, this decision might cause problems, but he would cross that bridge when it came to it.

Pyra and Mythra, Homura and Hikari, Alicia and Ciel, Fire and Light. Well, this brings back memories.

Incidentally, Viers always played Japanese games with Japanese audio when it was possible. The reason was because he found Japanese voice actors were doing a better job, more often than not. Their voice work had more soul in it compared to the western one.

Ten, twenty years ago, it was especially bad. Sometimes, the translation writing was off too. The English localization thought they knew better but it only made it worse instead. Viers hated that with a passion, which was why he preferred the original version, as the creator intended. Lately, the English voice works had become better, but he still preferred Japanese ones after all this time.

Of course, Sub than Dub for his animes. Always.

Now, I’ll let Alicia and Ciel move their storyline forward to their natural conclusion. Hopefully, they would become one again, just like Pneuma, awakening their true power and ascending to new heights.

The name Alicia itself was inspired from a different Fable, one that won the Game of the Year.

Identity is such a fascinating thing, don't you agree, Alicia?

As this ‘arc’ came to a close, Viers planned to what’s ahead.

Ciel had been saved and he was no longer bound by the duty of vassalage to King Croix. He was at his most powerful, an extraordinary Level 4 peak. With him possessing an extensive and ever expanding teleportation network, the world opened like it never before to Viers.

Turmoil was everywhere. The civil war of Latias amidst the invasion of the Empire.

To the south of the Human Dominion, the Silver Legion’s Crusade against the Demon King.

To the west, a horde of demons coming from the Greater Breach to Hell, a relic from past Hellwar.

Right now, the King of Death to the north was eerily silent, but for how long?

Inside and outside, monsters stirred.

The east was the sea, so unless humans could suddenly breathe underwater, there was no refuge there. Not to mention the sea was home to the seafolk, who regarded the land dweller as pests.

Viers and everyone else thought there was no danger coming from the eastern sea. Later, they would find out they were wrong.

This was the beginning of the Age of Heroes.

Viers had a wealth of options. He had planted seeds in Zetel and Harkelan soil. He could always help Croix and win a few battles when he felt like it. The sooner Croix won, the sooner Viers could occupy his new kingdom.

For now, he wanted to take a break from war. He had enough for the time being. Not that he was being lazy, he wanted a breath of fresh air. That meant traveling to new places.

He cared not where. He would always be training, improving his skills, getting stronger, obtaining opportunities and wealth, no matter where he went.

Since that was the case, there was nothing wrong with helping Sakuya and her same-age niece to find their missing Matriarch. There was bound to be a lot of traveling and since the Matriarch seemed to be connected to the cult of Teorph, he could kill more cultists.

Viers was a villain but he had no love for other villains. They could all die for all he cared.

Well, not all of you, I guess. If you all die, all the authorities’ eyes will be on me. You guys can stay alive until I’m the strongest and invincible then.

Since Viers decided, he informed Sakuya the news, which she regarded most welcomely.

Three days later, Viers, Sakuya, Yayoi, Paina, and Dia, the five of them went to walk the sun-baked earth of the Zetel Sultanate, searching for a missing Level 5.

Paina was only accompanying them temporarily because of her knowledge of the area before attending to her own thing, which was doing good deeds. Some of that karma went to Viers, according to their deal. Clarissa wanted to come too, but she needed to rest and heal for the time being. Everyone in the Arcanum Club was also spreading their wings.

In the blink of an eye, two years past by.