I sigh and walk over to her, holding out a hand to help her up. Her hand passes right through mine and she blinks in surprise.
"Oh...." She shakes her head and then springs to her feet with a bizarrely agile flip. "Hehe! Souls can't touch each other~"
Okay. She's still being incredibly creepy. But she's Meera. So I'm not that concerned. And if she can't be touched, that should make the escort part of the mission easier.
"Correction: Master! She can be hurt just like you! And if her soul collapses in this realm she'll die in real life too!"
"...Dammit."
She leans in and smiles at me, tapping her nose with her finger. "You're talking to a voice in your mind, huh?"
"Uh. Yes."
She tilts her head. "Does it know where Miss Meowkins is?"
Please. Do not tell me that cat is also my problem here.
"Answer: She's only a cat, not even the Demon King would send her into a trial!"
Good. That's a relief. And I don't appreciate the implication that it'd be strange. As if anything about this woman is normal.
Meera is still staring at me. "What does the voice say?"
I squint at her. "Who says I asked it anything?"
She hums. "You're worried about Miss Meowkins too, right? She'd be scared in this place. You're much too nice not to ask after her~"
"That's the first time I've heard someone call me nice in this world." I shrug. "Anyway. Let's go. We need to find the others."
She giggles and marches on ahead of me. Barefoot.
"Don't go far. I need to protect you if those things attack us."
"They won't attack me. They're scared of me."
Of a diviner?
She giggles and spins in a circle, her arms out wide, not answering my unspoken question. "The Soul Realm is so beautiful, don't you think?"
....I'm not sure how to answer that. It's not really a place I can appreciate aesthetically.
She doesn't seem to mind, continuing all on her own. "It's like a dream."
A nightmare, maybe.
She laughs again and keeps walking, humming to herself. I follow, keeping a careful eye on the shadows in the fog.
"Hey. You're a diviner, right? Can your stars point us to the other three?"
"No, not really." She shakes her head. "We're in a different realm now. My powers won't work here. We're just wandering, aren't we?"
So she's useless. Great.
She stops walking and looks at me, tilting her head. "Are you upset, Ryo?"
"No."
This place is a threat. It's different. I'm facing things that are actually dangerous. I'm having a great time. Though it's strange that they haven't attacked us in-
"Ryo!" Meera's eyes go wide as she gasps, looking at something behind me.
I whirl, and two shadow creatures are rushing at me. One has a dark blade raised in its hand. I don't have time to dodge. I twist myself and raise my blade to parry its attack barely in time, but the other one leaps at me from the side and slashes down my leg.
"Ngh-!" It hurts, and I stumble back, gritting my teeth. "Stay back," I hiss at Meera behind me. I'm not about to fail this escort mission and be caught in purgatory forever. I just need to land a solid hit on them and they'll die but if they slip past me and get her, she might be just as fragile.
One of them lunges forward, and I twist to the left, avoiding its swipe and driving the sword through its chest. It shatters, and the second one backs up, hissing. The wound in my leg throbs, and blood is soaking through my pants. It's deep, but it's not fatal. I can still fight.
The shadow creature hisses and rushes at me, and I lunge forward simultaneously, driving the sword through its head. It shatters in a satisfying sort of way. They're fortunately not exactly master combatants. Even what little I know - or perhaps just that damn instant mastery - is enough to keep up with even multiples of them. But their ability to ambush me from anywhere in the mist...
I bite my cheek and turn toward the open path again. "Hope Arin can use his magic, at least..."
"Mmh, probably not." Meera sighs and shrugs, walking alongside me as if we're just casually strolling through a park.
Ahead, there's the figure of Elara, walking aimlessly.
"Elara!" Meera calls out cheerily, waving, before I can say anything.
"Wait, Meera-!" Dammit, did she not pay attention when I questioned who she was?!
Elara doesn't turn to attack us. Instead, she just stops and stares at the ground near a tree. She's muttering something. "I can't believe this is happening. What are we going to do, I just-"
"Elara! Elara!" Meera is undeterred by her friend ignoring her, apparently.
She doesn't respond.
It seems...really obviously a trap, but it's one I have no choice but to spring, because Meera will even if I try to ignore her. Slowly, I approach the wraith that is in the form of Elara.
The red haired warrior just stands there, staring at the ground, muttering to herself. "What are we going to do...? We can't win. I'll never win. I'll never prove myself. How can I ever come home...? What am I going to do...?"
When I touch her shoulder, she whips around and draws her sword, raising it up toward me. But, instead of exploding into some kind of a shadow, she simply...stops. And stares at me.
"Ryo?" She blinks at me, lowering the weapon. Then turns and begins to walk away again. "No...no it's hopeless..."
"What the hell?" I can't help but utter the question.
Meera trots up to Elara. She doesn't look remotely confused. "We'll win, though. The stars say so."
"It doesn't matter." Elara responds tonelessly. "Even if I defeat the Demon King, there's no proof. No one will recognize me. I'll never become a hero. I'll never earn recognition back home. It's all pointless."
The hell is happening...? Why isn't she attacking?
"Answer: The souls of those who are absorbed into the Soul Realm lose their light! They lose their reason and become their darkest selves!"
....Meera isn't any different, though.
"Answer: Except for Meera."
That is not an answer! Don't classify that as an answer!
Meera leans in and presses her hands to Elara's cheeks. Were they able to touch she would be smushing Elara's face. "Don't pout. Miss Meowkins thinks you're a hero."
I don't think her opinion counts. Given that she's a cat.
"Miss...Meowkins?" Elara's gaze turns from the ground, to stare at Meera.
"Yes, yes! She always listens when you talk! So why would she lie?"
Elara reaches up and brushes her fingers under her eyes, as if brushing away tears that aren't there. She takes a shuddering breath. "That's...right. I have Miss Meowkins. And. Arin. And Kael. And..." She glances my way briefly, then looks away, face in her hands.
What. Is happening.
Elara looks at me again and then abruptly looks away. "Thanks," she murmurs quietly. Then, she raises her head and straightens up, looking over the forest again. Her gaze sharpens. "...Right. You're right. Let's get out of here."
"Yeah! We're following Ryo to the door!"
No. I'm not questioning it. If it means that I've got halfway to my goal of collecting these souls, I'm not going to complain that I don't know what the hell just happened. Nope.
I sigh and step forward, ahead of the two women. "...Come on. Arin and Kael are somewhere in here, too."
The girls nod and fall silent. Elara sheaths her sword and follows. There's more shuffling and rustling in the brush, and several times I have to pause and slash through phantom creatures approaching us. Each time, it sends a shock of pain down through my wounded leg. It's slowing me down.
"Elara, can you use your magic?"
Her face falls, like I just called her whole family line a failure, and she shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I...I just can't. I'm useless..."
Ugh. Not this again. I quickly wave my hand. "Meera's just as useless here, don't worry about it."
Meera squeaks in protest. Elara sniffles. But the monologuing stops, at least.
My leg is bleeding, which is worrying, but it doesn't seem to be getting worse, at least? Any more than my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Master! Your injuries don't work like physical ones."
How comforting.
We're moving more slowly than I'd like as we press on, but I can't help it, with this wounded leg.
Elara screams, and I whirl just in time to see her fall back, clutching her arm.
Damn it-!
"Elara!" Meera rushes over to her side, crouching beside her.
"I...can't..." Elara trembles, letting Meera hold her close.
On the bright side - she's not dead in one hit. Just cut. I leap in the way of the next attack that comes for her. I parry one incoming attack, and kick the shadow beast solidly in the torso. It's knocked back. But there's two more coming at me from either side, and one trying to flank us.
Yeah. Can't say this is looking good. "Stay down, Elara. I'll defend you both."
She sniffles. "You shouldn't have to deal with my burdens..."
I don't have time to listen to her lack of self confidence, because two more shadows appear behind her - surrounding us.
So that's their plan? Overwhelming me? "Yeah...? Well, come get some!"
I throw myself forward, slashing through one, and knocking another aside before it can strike Elara or Meera. I draw in a breath and sweep around in a wide arc. Two more are destroyed in an instant. Another leaps onto my back and I jab backward blindly until it dislodges itself. For whatever reason, this fog is apparently done with us, because these monsters just keep pouring in on us. I'm vaguely aware of which direction the path is, so we might be able to make a break for it. But only if Elara will actually run, which I'm not sure-
"Guh!" I'm momentarily stunned by the feeling of claws slicing into my back, and I stumble forward. Another one bites into my already injured leg, and I swear. I'm not sure what word escapes my lips, but I know it's colorful.
Nevermind that.
"Run!" I snarl.
The pair on the ground don't move a damn inch. Of course not. Fine. I'll clear the path and get them to follow me, then.
"You shouldn't have to deal with me-"
I slam a shadow with my sword and whip around, slashing through a second.
"-with my weaknesses!"
Meera claps excitedly and cheers. "Go, go Ryo!"
I turn on her. "Get her moving, dammit!"
I slam my foot into another monster's knee, shattering the joint, and dive past its exploding form. I land on the ground hard, unable to stand upright for a moment, just from the pain of the impact to my leg. Blood is beginning to soak my clothes. I draw in a breath, my hand grasping dirt and leaves. I glance up to see the other two, still sitting on the ground, still not moving.
A shadow appears above Elara and lifts a clawed hand. It strikes down with alarming speed.
Before I can move, there's an explosion of light - possibly the brightest thing I've ever witnessed.
It obliterates my entire vision, and before I can draw a breath, it consumes me.
Everything is white.
Everything.
For a long moment, there's nothing at all. Just that piercing white, enveloping everything.
And then it fades, slowly revealing the figures of Meera, Elara, and....an exhausted, panting Arin stands a short distance from where we were fighting, arms holding up his staff over his head.
And then he collapses face first in the mud.