153 - return part 3

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"... I can save her." (Fez)

A clicking sound flickered off into the room while a decently tall figure limped in. Well, it was tall compared to the 2 ten year olds, so it wasn't quit a high bar.

Patches of crimson red could be observed on random places of her clothing, her usual Queenly aura had dissolved into nothingness. Her large beige cardigan had numerous cuts along with a large hole in her back. The inner layer under the coat, was made with a magic material that could regenerate, so her modesty remained covered despite all the destruction on the fiber. It was a pure white shirt complimented with finely engraved black buttons and a decently sized skirt along with black leggings.

Gold engravings could be observed lining up the edges of the cardigan, mana glowed into a light blue light, adding another touch with thousands of magic circles etched in the centre area of the cardigan. Obviously her crown and cloak was not brought along into a battle field.

Her leggings were composed of a partially loose magic fibre that still stuck to some parts of her skin. Under the scrutiny of the infirmary light her expression was bare for all to see. However her inner thoughts were skillfully concealed in her poker face. With the exception of the winces of pain, she impressively maintained a solid front.

"What do you mean?..." (Lilith) Her eyes had a grey hue to them, with her upper eyelids partially closed. It seems that she had already lost hope, she had already accepted death.

"You.. Do you not understand the basis of Cress Emil's creation?" (Fez) A nod of satisfaction, it seemed that she knew this would happen, comical with the blood that dripped down her lips. She must have bitten them while she fought. It seemed she had quite a bit of distamce to run from the Iyori to be this relaxed.

"Of course I don't." (Lilith) Her fatigue gave away any facade she could possibly muster, however her inner thoughts still revolved fiercely. Creating a cycle of simulations to estimate how much it took to kill the queen if things got ugly.

"Cool it with the murderous intent, I didn't come here to fight... Anyway, her existence was based on me." (Fez)

"Huh?!" (Lilith) Satisfied with Lilith's perplexed look, the queen carried on with her exposition.

" To be more specific, she's made from my memories of my dear friend Emily. To put it simply, her whole existence is someone else's memories.

So when her own memories were taken, her existence lost its whole foundation and was going to fade out by tonight.

The terrorist tried to erase her memories since they didn't have time to kill her with all the chaos you caused in the colosseum. It's quite simple to do with a magic catalyst. Only that they couldn't be destroyed with my encryption and simply returned to me in their original form, memories of Emily. Do you believe me now? Will you take this gamble?

"(Fez) Her skin between the eyebrows contorted into wrinkles as a smirk surfaced and her eye brows shifted into a 'v' shape. Even to the 2 juveniles, it was quite obvious that a lot was coursing through the Queen's mind at this moment

"... You have the strength to hold off Iyori for this long. What choice do I even have? If it follows the usual cases of memory manipulation, one ego will take over the other, who will be lost forever. "(Lilith) A grimace of self-defeat had already taken over. What was left but an empty shell?

" it would usually be 50/50. But I was planning to sacrifice my life and make it 100/100. She could obtain a proper base to use as a body instead of weak intangible concepts mashed together in a pitiful attempt by mage craft . "(Fez)

"... Why would you sacrifice your life?" (Lilith)

"... I cant give you the reason. You can't do anything about it anyway, you're so weak now. So, nope! Just be a good girl and hold your friend's hand while I prepare the spell." (Fez) Lilith's skin shivered in response. Just what did this decision entail? Would this outcome be the most ideal? Cress would never be the same again, was that really worth it? In the end, the Queen placed such a horrible burden on Lilith's conscious. Giving a child the choice, to save your friend but alter her forever, or let her die. Her death would be a natural one, as her she was reaching something akin to the end of her lifespan. No one would blame her for either choices. Which was far worse as she could never relieve her guilt after.

***

Fez quickly drew her hand and the surrounding air became increasingly dense, hindering Cress's already weak respiration.

" WAI-?!"(Lilith)

" No... I know about your speed, sorry I lied one last time... There was no choice at all. Goodbye, Emily Vadim. "(Fez) Swallowing the whole room in a deep dark red glow, the magic circle was formed with her blood in an instant before I could even react. Once again, I wasn't able to help the ones I loved..., I loved... The queen?

" Hm! I see, so this is how it feels to have power..." (Cress) Her vigour had returned though hard to notice with her composed demeanour. Her calculating gaze swept past the room, observing it as if she was a new born animal.

"You... You are the queen aren't you..."

"Uhh... Sort of. I had always been her. Basing my existence on her memories, I had the personality of her youth though it developed into a weird direction when a little sister character showed up... " (Cress)

"..."

" Oh~ you, acting so cautious. Onee-chan is back, she just gained the memories of someone else. You could say we fused together since she sacrificed her soul to be my base, but not sure how it works since it technically used to be together.

You could treat this as an upgrade of sort since this ego is undeniably Cress. Added with the queen's knowledge... Ugh.. How horrible. "(Cress) Her usual expressions made a return with a radiant smile that put the sun to shame, until it was further covered by a layer of regret.

" You're still technically the queen right? If your personalities are the same or extremely similar, you're practically the same person- when possessing the memories of the other. What about your work? Are you not worried?"

"heh heh, I had someone else do the work for me. And now that I'm in this body instead, I am finally free. I'd prefer if you call me Cress though, Cress will always be the larger part of this ego... This union. It seems there were many things that the Queen hungered for... Wished for.

Nobody would have expected it, considering how successful her reign was. Hell, some nobles even did much less and still became satisfied with life. I can say with absolute confidence that I am Cress, but how do you think her acquaintances will feel with this? "(Cress)

".... I can't-... I'm too weak to fathom something like that... On the other hand, did the Queen finally achieve what she wanted with that? "

" Yeah. She got what she wanted with her death. She can't exactly come back to life anymore, if her personality surfaces in me, it would be closer than a clone than anything. "(Cress)

" I see... "(Iyori) Appearing without a single sound, her manifestation only sprung forth surprise. On guard, I stared her down, ready to fight with my life.