I Became My Healer Elf Character - Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Sisters
Esalda walked with her half sister—the crown princess—around the city. She wore her ceremonial knight attire with a white blouse and grey pants. The blouse had the signature pink insignia of the royal family.

The two walked towards the western district side by side. Esalda looked at Alfa with a smile. The princess held her head high without fearing the gazes of onlookers. Even if they’d make a move, they had several stealthy royal guards tailing them.

“You seem much brighter these past few days,” Esalda said, “I was beginning to get worried about you.”

Alfa returned the future duchess’ smile. “It’s all because of that elf. You can feel it too, right?”

Esalda tilted her head. “What’s that?”

Alfa sighed and looked towards the western church. “She has a divine energy about her. I feel like change is—”

No sooner than she could finish her sentence, the Earth rumbled, and in the distant sky towards the East, a streak of light pierced into the sky.

Alfa jumped into the air. “You don’t think that…”

Before the little princess could run away, Esalda grabbed her hand. “Remember, we have a duty to attend ourselves. Have one of the guards relay the message to Her Majesty, but I am sure she already knows.”

Alfa nodded towards a guard woman who leapt from the shadows, taking a knee towards the princess. “You know what you need to do. Notify Her Majesty, and await further orders.”

The knight placed a hand on her armored chest. “Yes, Your Highness!” Then she leapt towards a building close by and hopped towards the next, heading towards the distant castle.

“Let the knights handle it,” Esalda said. “We must fulfill our duty.”

Alfa looked down at the ground solemnly. “It feels strange to be investigating the church of our very own goddess.”

“It’s only natural to make sure they’re following the doctrine. Besides, the reports mostly mentioned strange sounds and smells during sessions. It could be nothing at all. But we must remain vigilant.”

Alfa traced her eyes back towards the dissipating streak of light. “You think someone has been passed divine judgment? Isn’t that the direction of the dungeon?”

“Now that you mention it…” However, Esalda had seen something akin to divine judgment with her own eyes. There was a possibility floating in her mind that it was not Amelia who passed this judgment.

Nonetheless, people in the streets looked worriedly towards that direction. However, some had started becoming reverent, praising the goddess’s light. It was true that her light hadn’t been seen for centuries at least, but Esalda was not going to immediately point to Amelia. Maybe if it was a few weeks ago, she’d have done the same thing. She’d have knelt on the ground and began praying in broad daylight.

Alfa waved her hand in front of Esalda’s face. “I understand if you’re spacing out after that display, but you were the one just talking about fulfilling duties.” Then the pink girl smiled and held back a giggle. “For a second I thought I lost my dear sister, but it seems you are still as silly as before.”

“Who’s silly!? Anyone would act strange when witnessing a divine judgment! Do you realize how long it’s been since we’ve seen her light?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. Mother talked about it all of the time. It’s most of what she talks about, and it’s all those elders ever talk about. I don’t understand it myself. Don’t other countries worship their own gods? What about that elven goddess in the north? Amelia is not the only one with a statue.”

“Aren’t you afraid the guards around us will report you for being a heretic?”

Alfa scoffed. “You know that’s not in her teachings as well as I do. I believe that time obscures all things. Amelia doesn’t care about such things. If she did, why not strike me dead where I stand?”

“She’s a loving goddess. There’s no way she’d render my cute little sister.”

“Hey! I am older than you!”

“It’s barely over a year! Besides, you’re smaller than me and cuter. Just look at these squishy cheeks.” Esalda squeezed her sister’s face, making her look like a fish.

“You’re such a bully!” Alfa yelled as the assault on her face ended. In the end, she gave Esalda a wry smile. “Still, I always feel like you’re always drawing the short straw.”

“I told you to stop worrying about that. We both live in different worlds, and I’m okay with that.”

“How can you be okay? Mother hardly gives you any light of day.”

“I manage. Plus, it’s not like you didn’t go through your own hardships. You lost a father, and I have the queen who hardly looked at me.”

“Is that why you work so hard to prove yourself?”

Before Esalda could answer another rumbling came from ahead. “It’s the church! Let’s hurry!”

The two ran at full speed towards the church large church commune. The whole building was pristine white marble, and the stained glass windows portrayed the goddess with her pink hair from the outside. A large spire rested on top, and another statue of the goddess was portrayed in a praying posture.

Two doors were pushed open before they could climb the steps. An elderly priest burst out in a hurry.

“Princess? No…Hurry, we need to inform her majesty!”

“Inform her about what? What happened!?”

The haggard man shook his head and pointed towards the interior. “Demons!”

Princess Alfa gasped. “Behind you!”

Before the man could fully turn around, the razor sharp claws of a demon dog pierced through his abdomen. He tumbled forward down the steps, and two more dogs joined in. They each leapt towards his sides and began ripping through the skin on his body.

Alfa covered her mouth, and her breath hitched, becoming more and more frantic.

Esalda’s hand quickly reached out and grabbed her sister’s. Without saying a word, she took off running with her sister in tow.

The knights in the shadows jumped out from their hiding spots to head off the monsters. The world behind the two had become a war zone in seconds.

An army of zombies popped out from the recession and started brawling with the knights. As Alfa looked back she saw one knight cut the head from a demon dog, and another knight took care of three zombies at once by cutting through all of them.

However, the true horror arrived when the leader of the insurrection made himself known. He steadily flapped his black wings above the hundreds of undead pouring out of the church.

Several clouds came from seemingly nowhere, casting a shadow over the previously bright daylight. He grinned in delight seeing the knights beginning to retreat from the sheer number of monsters.

As the world turned to shadows, and people began panicking, his voice rang out over the capital. “Hello, citizens of Amelia. I know this may seem sudden, but pretty soon everyone will become my cute little subject. Isn’t that wonderful? Well, at least, the women may consider themselves safe.”

He grinned at the fleeing young princess and her sister. “There is truly nothing better in this world. However, I may be generous and spare some of the men. When the elf returns, bring her to me.”

Esalda felt her pulse rising. More city guards began tunneling down, making way for the two sisters. Groups of adventurers ran behind the guards, making up the back of the formation.

One of the adventurers called out towards the sisters. “Don’t worry about these demons. Quickly get to the castle!”

Esalda nodded and gripped her sister’s hand tighter. She looked back at her sister’s face and saw tears streaking down her cheeks. The duke’s daughter felt another tug at her heart.

Merely a few minutes ago, and the two were laughing it up, but her sister was so shocked she couldn’t say anything. Esalda felt her own body shaking, too. She didn’t know if it was anger or fear driving her, but she ran so fast her legs burned. Her lungs heaved for air, and she wheezed into the cold air.

Cold air? She hardly even noticed the steadily dropping temperature as she ran passed one building and the next. Drops of rain began falling from the sky in a light sprinkle.

As the rain grew heavier, the screams from behind became more distant. But each drop of rain chilled the skin and produced a scorching sensation. She looked down at her pristine skin, still unchanged by the weather.

The cries of citizens reached her ears, and Esalda finally felt her own eyes becoming wet. The castle seemed to get further and further away, even though she felt she’d never run faster in her life.

She had no idea what she should do. All she wanted was to get her sister to the queen. If she got her there, she felt like it would finally be safe. In her heart, she didn’t think of Amelia. Instead, she sent a prayer to the only person who she’d personally seen as a Goddess.

Hikari! Please, save us!

As if on command, another bright light pierced through the rain clouds, and the sky parted. Esalda looked high above and dropped to her knees. Inside of the torrential storm, a girl with flowing white robes and pointed ears hovered with wings as white as snow.