Bro, I'm not an Undead!



Replicus exited his expansive room from the giant double doors. Waiting for him outside, was the gallant figure of Pherdanta whom he had called just now. The mostly stoic woman's punctuality, along with the great sheer zeal radiating from the minute twitches in her posture, conveyed that she was ready for any task her master wished to give.

"I ended up having more errands to run than I had initially planned," Replicus said to himself before turning to Pherdanta, "Keep an eye on Baddan, will you? When he wakes up, send him to his room."

"As you wish," Pherdanta acknowledged, but the slightest hint of uncertainty showed from her face. "And if he doesn't awaken?"

"He will."

Replicus stepped onto the sigil on the floor, and in a blink, he was transported to the seventh floor. As it appeared, even Replicus had to use the sigils and marks to travel around the Honing Fortress.

While this compressed world had its merits in terms of security, Replicus wasn't so arrogant as to believe that any enemy's attempt at invading Deign could be foiled by the inherent settings this space allowed.

Because of that, there were other measures he had put in place.

Even an advanced Mage would have a difficult time navigating the floors of the Honing Fortress. After all, getting in wasn't the biggest problem. The struggle was with manoeuvring within and getting out.

On the seventh floor, which was designated for the Unlimited, Replicus reached a luxurious door that was similar in likeness to three others spaced within the vast corridor.

He knocked.

Because there was perfect noise cancellation for privacy, even Replicus did not hear anything going in within the room until the door swayed opened to reveal a lime green haired girl who leapt at sight of him.

"M-m-master!" Yuyui stuttered and took a few steps back, her face turning into all shades of colour. "What are you... doing h-here? Oh no-no. That's not what I meant! I mean...I mean you own this place... so of course you can... uhm... Please come in..."

Replicus didn't say a word as Yuyui put on a show in gestures and unintentional dances. He glanced past her into the vast room littered with musical instruments and junk he knew she collected from many places whenever she got the chance to leave Deign.

There was practically no order within the room, and the best example of the degree of scruffiness featured within, was the bed sheets, which were so untidy that it looked as though Yuyui had left a dirty animal tap dance and sleep on them.

Replicus sighed.

Yuyui never did manage to completely restore her sense of civilised humanity it seemed.

"Dress up into something proper. I want you to accompany me," Replicus said.

Yuyui opened her mouth to speak, visibly intent on refusing one way or another but then...

"Al-alright," she said sullenly and retreated into the room.

Replicus closed the door to allow her privacy. Yuyui seemed so estranged with him that asking him to turn while she changed or casting the door in his face seemed too arrogant. Well, Replicus had seen all there was to see, and from what Yuyui knew, her master was as close to a eunuch as any creature could get.

Soon, she popped out in a sleek leather armour and docilely followed Replicus to a mark that led them to the lowest floor. Walking through the exit, the two silently marched into the pathway sandwiched by two pools and kept going.

At this point, Yuyui realised that her thinking until now had been flawed. She gazed at a distant structure that always seemed to be calling her each time she saw it.

The Temple of Unlusted Tears.

She thought Replicus had wanted to take her there, and had dreaded that he would finally decide to act forcefully, confronting her about not making any attempts to awaken her third eye finally since Ferex's disappearance, but...

"Is that what you thought?" Yuyui heard Replicus speak without turning to her.

She somehow felt embarrassed about being read so easily.

"I can't blame you. We've essentially been living in two different worlds for a while..."

A moment later, Replicus and Yuyui were out of the void onto which a sun was painted, and they appeared on the island, just in front of a large arch painted in red.

Replicus beckoned to Yuyui and they started moving towards a corner of the island that had dense greenery all packed away from the majority of the landmass.

It was only when they were a little less than a kilometre of the way that Replicus spoke again.

"I don't feel anything against you about Ferex, Yuyui. What happened was neither your fault nor Ferex's."

Yuyui didn't provide any verbal response. A sniff was heard from her, but it was neither from emotion nor ailment.

"If blame can be placed on anyone, it should be placed on me. I'm responsible for you all in one way or another. Getting too confident in Ferex's ability to overcome his flaw on his own... that is my burden."

"You're just trying to make me feel better," Yuyui said in a sombre tone.

Replicus stopped, and turned to her while dimming his sockets so she could meet his gaze without squinting.

"Now that... is my fault," he said, much to Yuyui's surprise. She eyes, which were livid with conflict bulked and shimmered.

"What?"

"Making you feel better. I don't do it as much I should. I never did. I've failed at conveying many of my thoughts and emotions, Yuyui. Especially when I learnt how to. My goals have taken precedence ever since I got rid of my curse. How I viewed things... changed for a while and when I realised how many mistakes I was making, I didn't want to give myself the time to fix them. Grim reminded that I could."

Yuyui faced the ground.

"I don't think you're wrong, master. I really wanted to become someone strong. I wanted to become dependable. But I just can't. I was born a normal person. I turned slightly insane, but I'm still a regular girl. All I know is music. Fighting and killing... That priest. I dream about it all the time. I can't forget and I can't get past it. And then Ferex... It's different for you because you weren't there. I was. I... failed him. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this..."

"Maybe not," Replicus said, and with a sigh following after.

 "Perhaps I shouldn't have forced you to tag along with me after you were free. That First Trial had a lot of loopholes. I could easily have kept you at a distance. I still can."

Yuyui shook.

"What? Can what?"

"If you wanted, I could let you go free. For you to live the way you want. Away from the things you feel... aren't meant for you."

"But no. I can't..." Yuyui's face turned dark. To just leave after everything. To go somewhere and pretend as though the past two months hadn't happened?

Her denying this possibility contradicted what she had just said but...

"I can't do that! That's not... I mean..."

"You're in conflict with yourself. That won't help either of us. If there are wrongs you want to right, you can't fulfill them in this state. The way I see it, you can choose what kind of life you want going forward. You can't remain as the funny bard of the group forever. That won't help anyone. And trust me, the coming times are going to need you to decide soon."