2 Chapter 57: Dark Blades Pt 3

"How do you know my name?" The monster woman asked, her voice full of suspicion.

"I'm one of the few people in history born with time magic." He answered. "Obviously my own power pales in comparison to Lady Kintris."

"So, you can see into the future?"

"A little yes, only a couple minutes." Explained the Elf. "However, every time one looks into the future it changes. So, I use what I see as a guideline instead of the absolute truth."

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one you didn't say you name; yet we're already pass the point I saw ahead so you probably never will."

Lucilla thought about it for a few seconds and decided what he said made a little sense. "So, what do you wish to talk with me about?"

The Dark Elf gave her an ominous smile. "Nothing much, I wish to help you, in return all you have to do is one small favor in the future."

"... What would you even be helping me with?" Lucilla asked cautiously.

"You'll know when it happens. I'll be there."

Lucilla's glare narrowed at his response, not liking its implications. "I thought you could only see a couple minutes into the future."

The Dark Elf continued to smile, not even a twitch in his facial features. "Yes, I can only see a couple minutes into the future, but with some prep and effort I can see much further."

Lucilla wanted to ask more, but she got the feeling the man in front of her wouldn't be willing to explain. This situation was... suspicious. He claimed he figured out her name from looking at their conversation in the future, but his actions made it clear he knew who she was already. She's willing to believe he's been here for as long as he claimed, but she had the sneaky suspicion their meeting wasn't an accident either. She briefly wondered if Ovana had planned for this before shaking her head, pushing the thought aside as ridiculous.

'Besides she might be a Goddess, but she doesn't have dominion over time... I think.'

"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll be fine." She spoke. Taking this offer would be the same as making the deal with one of the Forsaken. She wasn't interested in having her soul taken or possibly even sacrificing something more valuable.

"That's fine. Whenever you need me just speak the name Grivion while holding this." He said holding out a silver pendent with a black gem located in its center.

"Again, I do-" She attempted to reject the pendent, but he tossed it at her, and she flexibly caught the small object. She frowned as she placed it on the table. "I think I'll take my leave...."

Standing up Lucilla made her way to the kitchens exit. Grivion watch her leave, never letting the smile on his face fade away. Even after she left the kitchen and made her way back to the balcony, she felt his eyes on her the whole time. It wasn't until she made it to the balcony and jumped off that she was again able to breathe again. Even the sickly-sweet scent of the mana in the air was a welcome change to the feeling of being watched.

She made her way back to the gate that led out of Athrem. For the first time since she's been here, she got a good look at the area the gate was located. It was an absurdly massive wall of rock, that reached far into the sky, to the point she couldn't even see the top. A long ledge jutted out on part of the wall. That was where the muddy plateau was located, along with the large gate. Aiming for her familiar post she slowed her speed as she tried to place her feet onto the ground. She ended up sliding a few feet, struggling to maintain her balance, but ultimately, she kept herself from falling face first into the mud.

'Seriously why is it muddy here? It never rains.' Lucilla complained in her head as she turned towards her Goddess.

"Welcome back." Ovana said cheerfully before she narrowed her eyes in displeasure. "I see you brought back something unpleasant with you."

"What do you mean?" Lucilla asked taken aback by Ovana's sudden shift in mood. "I didn't bring anything back with me."

"Lucilla, be ever so kind and check your pockets."

Still confused, Lucilla started reaching into her pockets. She was unsure what she was looking for until she reached into her right pocket on her pants leg. Something cool to the touch was in there, and as she pulled it out a similar look of displeasure crossed her face as she glared at the object in hand. It was the pendant that belonged to the Dark Elf.

"How did this get in my pocket? I thought I left it with him." Lucilla said, half talking to herself and half speaking with Ovana.

"I can't interfere with this thanks to it being something between you mortals, but I implore you to not interact with that... man." Ovana spat with venom in her voice. "Unfortunately, you can't get rid of that pendant any time soon. It'll always appear on your person if you get a certain distance from it."

"That sounds... annoying."

"So long as you don't interact with him again, you should be fine." Ovana sighed.

"... I guess I deal with him when I have too." Lucilla muttered before turning her attention back to Ovana and asked, "Is there a way to get rid of these wings?"

"Just do what you did before but in reverse." Ovana said, a hint of anger lingering in her voice. "Try imagining it folding back into you."

Closing her eyes Lucilla willed her wings to recede back into her. She felt the weight on her back slowly become lighter, and when she opened her eyes again the black feathered wings were no more. She still didn't understand how this worked, but she was glad she didn't have to walk around with raven wings at all times. She did make a mental note to modify her outfits to include holes for her wings at a later date. She really liked this coat and was a little upset the back had two large tears in them now.

"I think we've done enough for today. I'll see you later." Ovana said as she disappeared in hell flame once more.

Lucilla looked around the muddy area before turning around to walk through the gate. She wanted to get back to the outpost before anyone showed themselves. She was looking forward to a good night's rest.

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Lucilla sat on her bed staring at her twin blades, their dark surfaces absorbing the light of the hell fire lanterns. The last time she saw these blades was hundreds of years ago, when they were made by the Arachne Queen. Looking at the blades now made her think about Anastasia. She locked her emotions in place so she wouldn't forget them or have them fade. That also meant they wouldn't grow either. Her self-loathing wouldn't get worse, and her anger wouldn't fade.

It was both a blessing and a curse from Lucilla's perspective. Until she killed Jason she would be stuck in place forever. Yet that also meant whatever little positive feeling she had towards Anastasia would never become anything more than what it already is. She couldn't help but feel that was unfortunate. She didn't understand them, but it was a pleasant feeling.

It was distinctly different from what she felt for her sisters. These feeling were also her only source of comfort since thinking of her sisters now just made her heart ache with both pain and guilt. For three hundred years whenever she needed to make herself feel better her thought turned to the spider woman. Thinking of her again now made Lucilla smile to herself, which just made her glare more prominent as a nasty looking smirk graced her lips.

'You have to watch how you look; that's one nasty face you have.'  A voice said in her head. 'Honestly could you refrain from looking at me like that?' 

Surprised Lucilla looked around her empty room, searching for the source of the voice. As expected, the room held no one else inside besides herself. She half expected Maisy to just be standing in the corner, but she left her slime maid with Sara for protection. Lucilla then looked back at the blades wondering if the voice came from them. She didn't know why she thought that, but that's what came to mind.

"Was it my swords?" She wondered out loud.

'It was one of us.' The voice responded sounding happily. 'I don't know what you did but I'm fully awake!' 

"...." Lucilla stared. The voice sounded relatively young, not quite childlike, but not really mature either. Though she didn't recognize the voice, something about the speaker was familiar.

'I guess this would be our first time meeting for real.' The voice said in response to Lucilla's silence. 'It's nice to finally meet you.' 

"Yes, I suppose it is." Lucilla responded suspiciously, not liking the way her weapon responded. "Which one is speaking to me?"

'I'm the one closest to you.'

Lucilla lifted the short sword from her lap, letting the other one continue to rest where it laid across her legs. She studied the blade closely, looking for any signs that indicated a change in the blade. The smooth metal surface gave nothing away, it looked and felt just as ominous as it always had. As she scrutinized the talking blade however, she suddenly became aware of a faint flicker of a soul within the weapon.

Lucilla's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she looked at the pale blue flaming orb nestled deep inside her sword. Her crimson gaze moved downwards till it rested on the other blade, where she saw another soul. Though that one felt much more dormant, as if it were resting.

"Do you have any theories on why you suddenly awoke?" Lucilla asked still watching the soul of her weapon.

'I have a few, but one thing that definitely help was separating me from my sister here.' There was an edge to her voice when speaking that Lucilla couldn't quite place. 'We can transform ourselves without outside influence, you know? Forcing us together just meddled our thoughts and actions.'

"You can? can you do it know?" Asked the silver haired woman with some excitement entering her voice.

'Well... no, that's dependent on you to an extent....' The blade responded awkwardly.

Lucilla frowned slightly disappointed, before another question came to mind. "Do you have a name?"

'No, we don't. We've never been named, and most of our existence has been in a state of rest.' Replied the nameless sword. 'Would you be so kind and bestow us a name?' 

"What's with that weird way of talking suddenly?" Lucilla questioned while pondering on what to call them. "How do you like the name Geminus? I'll name the other one Filia."

'I really like that! Geminus huh?' Geminus was still a sword so they could not express emotions, but Lucilla could still feel the joy radiating off the sword, nonetheless. 'After all these years I have a name.' 

Lucilla couldn't help but smile at the child like innocence that came from the blade in her hand. Her whole demeanor changed so suddenly, that it made the swords earlier attitude seem like a facade. Her current attitude matches her voice far more in Lucilla's opinion. Noticing Lucilla's face however snaped Geminus out of her dazed state.

'A- anyway, you have any plans or are we just going to sit here all day?' Geminus asked.

"What do you mean? It's the end of the day; I'm going to bed soon." Lucilla said, this being one of the few times where she didn't die before the days end. She was actually looking forward to getting a proper night's rest for the first time in a while.

Geminus sounded displeased as she spoke. "Well, I guess we'll just have to play tomorrow then."

Lucilla gave the grumbling sword an apologetic smile as she placed them against the wall with their sleeping sister. "Sorry Gem, but I'm still a mortal with mortal needs."

After saying good night and getting a grumbling response in return Lucilla shut the Hell fire lanterns plunging her room into darkness. As she was drifting off to sleep, she could've sworn she heard Geminus urging her sister to wake up. The last thing her clouded mind heard before sleep claimed her was Geminus mentioning experiencing the world together.