--Something was wrong.
Miss Surtr walked through the outer gate of Firelink Shrine, and the sight before her made her feel that something was wrong.
What was wrong? Everything was wrong.
She did indeed see the leaden-gray, gloomy, dim sky. She did indeed see the endless fog beyond the cliffs and the occasional outlines of cities. She saw the gravestones scattered across her field of vision and the sealed sarcophagi. She saw flocks of crows flying past overhead in rows, croaking low.
She saw death, decay, and the decline of the flames. Yet beyond all that, there was one thing missing from her sight.
What was it?
She did not know.
She inspected her surroundings, searching everywhere with her eyes and trying to find an answer to the doubts in her heart. She soon discovered a small anomaly.
Where were the corpses burned dry?
Where were the undead who had once been pilgrims, carrying simple weapons and wandering everywhere?
Where were the pale bodies that had burned away their souls and collapsed around the shrine?
Where were they?
She climbed the stone steps, but all she could see were clumps of green grass stubbornly growing in the dry earth. The outlines of the buildings before her did resemble the game from her memories of Arknights in some ways, but in many crucial—and not-so-crucial—areas, they were completely different.
She had not seen a single undead or corpse on the way up the mountain. Considering the strength Miss Fire Keeper had displayed, it was not impossible to assume that the young lady had cleared out the shrine's minor enemies. Yet even after barely accepting that explanation, the doubt in the girl's heart still did not fade.
That was not it.
The absence of undead and corpses was certainly an anomaly. But that was not what "wrong" referred to. This doubt came from the depths of her heart, from an area beyond what her eyes could confirm. It came from instinct and wisdom—something had happened beyond her expectations, and it was closely related to her.
"Did something go wrong?" She stopped and glanced back in the direction she had come from. A faintly chilly breeze seemed to brush her fingertips, but when she examined the area carefully, she saw only the grass swaying.
--The stalker. That white shadow.
Although she had not seen anyone, she was certain that someone was sneaking around nearby. Physical ability was one thing, but experience and skill had not diminished. With only the slightest clues, she could infer many things.
Then...
--Should I drag it out? Or should I wake up directly and see whether anything strange is happening in the real world?
The girl considered it, but soon rejected the first idea.
--Stay calm. I have to stay calm. Since I've already decided to face the world before me in a more relaxed manner, I can't be as tense as I was before...
"--Like hell!"
She exhaled, shouted, and exploded with force.
With a turn of her gaze, Miss Surtr, holding the Spiral Sword of Burning Flame, pounced toward the swaying grass like a streak of lightning. The sword struck, its shadow following behind. Three parts restraint, seven parts force—the supple blades of grass were neatly severed.
"Come out!"
Her voice exploded into a shock wave, echoing through the surroundings and blowing down every blade of grass nearby. Yet beyond that, the area within her field of vision remained completely empty.
Not here.
But it definitely wasn't far!
She sensed the flow of the air and the change in the atmosphere. It seemed that icy moisture was condensing, and the place where that energy was gathering was certainly not far away!
--To the right!
Her figure swayed slightly, and the Coiled Sword became stained with molten fire. A sharp icicle grazed the spot where she had been standing and shattered against the surface of an old gravestone. Without hesitation, she slashed toward the direction where the cold was surging—
The sound of the ice shattering—"crack"—was familiar to her, and she instinctively withdrew some of her strength. The combat killing move she had been preparing instantly shifted into a grapple meant to restrict movement. The white figure blurred as it moved at high speed, yet seemed strangely familiar, while the girl's cry made her eyes widen abruptly.
--What is going on? This voice... How could this voice be here?
Her thoughts moved faster than her actions, but when she turned that thought over, a soft sensation came from her palm. As her spinning vision gradually steadied, a familiar face appeared before her—the gray-white eyes, snowlike hair, delicate features, and upright ears. How could this person be here? How could this world have her?
She had even pinned down the girl's hands and pushed her onto the ground covered in soft grass!
"Yelena?" Surtr could not help crying out. She simply could not believe her eyes.
The moment her words left her mouth, the struggle in the girl's hands beneath her and the resistance in her eyes vanished. Her body became a little softer, causing Surtr to press down more tightly.
"Surtr? Is that really you?" The familiar voice completed the final piece of the puzzle.
Wonderful.
This was just wonderful.
She did not know whether the problem was with the world or with herself, but in any case, things had become a major hassle.
"...Wait a moment." Surtr took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
--I want to go back... No, don't go back, but open a path back for me!
The girl's will pried at the laws of the world, and a gateway to the real world immediately unfolded within her consciousness. As with every journey through the dream world before, her self rose toward the surface of the Sea of Worlds like a glimmer of light in the deep sea. This should have been a completely uneventful return journey, but this time, its unfolding was different from usual.
I can't get in! No matter how I look at it, I can't get in!
The gate between the two worlds had indeed opened, but her thoughts could not push her toward the direction from which she had come!
Had the gate become smaller? No, it was the same as before... Had she grown larger? There was extra room around her. She had brought something else with her on this journey between the two worlds!
Although she did not know how Yelena had crossed over, the passage could only allow one will to pass through. It could not take two souls away at once!
Surtr opened her eyes.
She looked at the girl beneath her with a complicated expression.
--This is bad. This is really bad. This is really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad.
--Phew... Calm down, calm down. The urgent matter now is to find a time machine—damn it! I am the time machine, but what am I supposed to do if I can't handle this? Aaaaaah!
Her thoughts raced, but she maintained the position of pinning Yelena to the ground for a full fifteen seconds. Even when Yelena's cheeks flushed faintly, she did not spare any thought for the detail that she obviously should have noticed.
She merely let out a long, quiet sigh.
"You weren't mistaken. I really am... I am Surtr."
I'm going to start charging tomorrow. There'll probably be three updates (for that day only). I hope the first-day subscriptions reach at least five hundred—not something too embarrassing. _(:з"∠)_
Before you continue