It is said that a mist of a blood red color has appeared on the southern border of the continent. Several archives and unmanned outposts have been enveloped in its wispy, violent nature.
The DeMeteor's, Kosmairian's and Sylivian's are currently cooperating in order to crush this indeterminant red mist. It is said to be harmless, so any fears of death can be put aside for now.
In the upcoming months, the three houses' cooperation will surely vanquish this unknown pestilence.
There is no need to fear for your life or your family.
Article from the pre-Wall period written by Tempt Barons.
In bold elven script, "LIAR" is written over the top of this article.
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Gwyn lay in the fetal position and clutched her arm that ached with an unfamiliar pain. The bone stuck from the skin like an iceberg from a pale ocean.
The room was silent. Students stared in horror at what they witnessed.
Gwyn stood up without assistance, the action labored and painful. She felt an unrelenting fury within herself. Not because Anastasia had broken her arm, but because of what she forced her to watch. What she said about her mother.
That was more painful than the wound she had given her. Gwyn shambled toward the door. People stepped aside as she walked out of the classroom.
"If you leave that room now, I'll fail you," The teacher commanded, a smug arrogance in her voice, as if she held all the cards.
Gwyn turned her head to see the teacher's face. A contemptuousness directed her face's shape. Mrs. Bellbottom didn't want to be defied. She wanted Gwyn to obey her, to revel and cry in her superiority.
The Chosen One would not give her that satisfaction. The door slammed behind Gwyn.
"You've failed Gwynevere, failed!" Mrs. Bellbottom yelled in defiance, her words muffled to the Chosen One.
Gwyn winced with each step as she walked through the halls. Red clouded her vision, and her face felt as though it was on fire.
She thought of raven hair and flower fields. Artero. She had no idea where he was, but then she remembered the link.
~Where are you…?~
A desperate message through the link. The message was as broken as her body.
Artero was not expecting this message. He nearly tumbled out of his desk in the middle of a lesson, but responded immediately.
~First floor…~ An uncomfortable pause. Why was Gwyn contacting him at school? ~What's going on?~
~I've got… a slight issue,~ Gwyn said via link.
Artero excused himself and left the room. He sprinted through the halls. It wasn't long before he found the wounded human aimlessly wandering.
"Gwynevere!" He ran over. "What happened to your arm? And your face?"
Artero wanted to throw up; there were a million things he was expecting, the last of which was this.
"Anastasia… sparring," Gwyn said weakly.
She winced as he inspected her wound. She was trailing blood through the hallway.
"Gods…" The sight of her bones sticking from her arm made his stomach turn in knots. "I'll take you to the school's healer."
In one motion, he lifted Gwyn and carried her.
"This isn't—"
Artero didn't let her finish.
"I'm here to protect you now, just hang on, Gwynevere."
Gwyn swallowed hard and tried not to focus on the pain. A rhythmic beating started in her heart, and she suddenly felt much warmer. She convinced herself it was the wound that had done this to her. The Prince quickly and carefully cradled Gwyn all the way to the infirmary. Once they arrived, he nearly kicked the door down.
The nurse jumped from her desk.
"Hello, Prince Kosmariain, how are you…" The healer noticed he was carrying someone. She saw the blood that was trailing through the halls. "I'll have to heal you right—"
The nurse stopped speaking once she realized the woman had no elongated ears, no lustrous skin. It was a human. It was the twenty-fifth Chosen One.
"What? What's wrong?" Artero asked. "Is it worse than you thought?"
A certain reluctance was clear within the nurse.
"Sorry, Prince, I'm afraid I can't help you."
"But you just said…"
"Sorry, I thought you were… visiting me." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I heard you broke up with that failure of a princess, so I thought—."
"You can't be fucking serious." Artero turned from the nurse. "Thanks for nothing."
He raised his gloved hand and threw the door from its hinges, damaging the surrounding area in his fury.
This startled Gwyn, but to watch someone get so angry on her behalf was more endearing than she expected; if she wasn't in the worst pain imaginable, she'd almost be enjoying this situation.
The Prince huffed. Artero only knew one person who could heal Gwynevere. Everything else was a gamble.
"Artero, I'm fine, really, you can put me down."
"Your bone is sticking out of your fucking arm, Gwynevere. You need a healer."
"Can't you heal me?" She asked.
He didn't respond for a moment.
"I'm no good at healing, at least not with that."
Gwyn remembered the café explosion. Elise had healed her wounds then, but these wounds were different.
"Isn't Elise good at healing?"
The utterance of her name sent shivers up his spine.
"I..." he looked at her arm. "Yes… she may be able to."
What she suggested, he feared. It was all he could think of as well. Something in his chest made him hesitant to see the Sylvian Princess.
Artero ran as fast as he could, teleporting with Gwyn to the Gilded Towers and running to the basement, where he immediately found Elise sitting, reading. Mr. Book jumped up from where he was lying once they arrived.
"Now listen here, this is a reading environment you need to be—Are you getting blood on all these papers?!"
Mr. Book stopped flapping his pages and immediately fainted. Or closed. No one could really tell which.
Elise finished reading the sentence, then looked up from her paper.
"Blood? Artero, what are… What the fuck happened?"
"Anastasia happened," Artero said, infuriated.
The Princess approached Gwynevere. The Chosen One's face was swollen and beginning to bruise. The wounds looked serious. Then Elise noticed Gwyn's arm and became extremely nervous.
"Can you fix it?" Gwyn asked weakly.
"Yes, but..."
Every feature of Artero's face illustrated concern.
"But what?"
"Nothing." Elise buried her emotions and corrected herself. "Come, come. Sit here."
Elise pulled out the chair she was sitting in, and Artero carefully placed Gwyn down on it.
Elise took out her dagger and pointed it towards Gwyn's chest.
"Mend the broken form,
For this, my duties sworn,
Impaired and broken she may be,
But take from me, the health she needs."
A bright light emitted from the dagger. The wound that was covered in blood was now returning within Gwyn's body as though time was reversing. The bones creaked as they returned to their intended position.
Gwyn screamed in agony, like someone was pulling teeth with pliers.
There was no elegance in this healing process.
"Sorry!" Elise winced, as though she could feel Gwyn's agony. "I can't administer the proper pain suppressant. This is too grievous a wound."
"It's fine!"
Gwyn was only trying not pass out from the pain.
After three minutes of Elise pointing her dagger, the healing process was completed.
Gwyn's bones were back in place, the swelling in her face returned to normal, and her vision cleared.
Gwyn could only be thankful her glasses didn't break.
Elise held a weary smile.
"There you go… All better."
Gwyn looked at the small scar that was now on her elbow, then looked up to the Sylvian Princess.
"Elise, you're bleeding."
"Am I?" Elise lifted a finger to her nose. Her fingertip was stained red. "Oh." She gave a slight laugh. Elise let her arms drop like heavy weights. "I'll be fine."
Artero couldn't help but be amazed by Elise's healing capability.
"You're incredible, Elise."
Elise couldn't help but feel overwhelming joy at his compliment, although she wasn't sure why.
The Chosen One inspected her wound once more. She even bent her elbow a few times for good measure.
Gwynevere had gotten used to Elise bleeding out of somewhere whenever she cast magic. However, when Gwyn looked back at the Sylvian Princess, blood was now leaking from her ears, eyes, and nose simultaneously, with no signs of stopping.
Gwyn shot up from her chair.
"Elise?! Is this normal?"
"Yes?"
Elise appeared delirious and smiling. The Bloody Princess had a vacant look in her eyes.
A moment later, she collapsed.
"Elise!"
Artero ran over, his heart pounding. He placed his ear to her chest.
"She's not breathing."