{3rd POV}
Slam!*
"You have to be cheating!"
In a rather luxurious bedroom two young women, Varay Aurae and Charlotte Wykes were peacefully playing a game of cards on a small coffee table when suddenly the white haired maiden slammed her fist on the table with almost enough force to break it.
In response the still strait faced Blond just sighed as she picked up the fallen cards and began to reshuffle the deck.
"You know for the so-called Ice Princess you really know how to lose your shit when losing in cards."
"I lost seven games in a row. Seven! And you want me to believe it's just pure luck, no give the cards I'm shuffling."
And as she said that she forcefully took the deck of cards out of Charlotte's hands and began to mix the deck herself with newfound vigor.
Charlotte, who was watching this just gave a resigned sigh as she was already used to the attitude of the Ice Princess/Workaholic known as Varay, and her wildly different personalities when she was on or off work.
Ever since she was reborn into this world she had gotten along surprisingly well with the oldest daughter of the Aurae family and when she found out about Varay's insane potential as a mage she decided to take her under her wing as well as help her awaken early.
These actions were of course not fully executed for the sole benefit of helping Varay but also with the intention of raising a powerful weapon who could aid her in her endeavors.
'Since I was reincarnated there's also a decent chance that he might've as well...'
Charlotte or rather as she was known before her reincarnation, Elizabeth, was the only person other than Alex himself that knew his plan to cleanse the world of Eden from the beginning, before he actually began to execute it. She was the one who could've made the decision to try and convince him that his plan was pointless if he wouldn't survive, but instead, she was the one to execute him.
[A/N When I say this I mean that she's the one who actually killed him by cutting his head off before killing herself with her own sword, the Empress is a whole different character.]
"Hayyyyy. Helloooo. Earth to Char~ Are you there?"
As she was on the edge of sinking into another depression Varay pulled her out of it as she finished dealing a new hand. Unbeknownst to Varay, this was a regular occurrence and Varay managed to keep Charlotte's thoughts away from Alex's death at least a dozen times a week, almost making her solely responsible for recovering her to the semi-sane mental state that Charlotte was in now.
'Thank you.'
Once again thanking Varay in her heart she picked up her hand and began to play with an almost unnoticeable smile on her face.
"Royal Flush."
"God Fucking Damnit!"
...
{Arthur POV}
Pain.
That was all I felt as I regained consciousness, along with the drum like sounds of my heartbeat telling me that I was in fact, alive.
'How the hell did I survive that?'
Each breath I inhaled felt like I was breathing fire, and the needle-like pains that shot through my whole body made me wonder if I was going to go insane.
'No. I got this. I've already experienced far worse so this should be nothing nothing.'
Taking in another deep breath, I gritted my teeth and attempted to open my eyes which seemed to be sealed shut by dried blood while simultaneously channeling small amounts of mana into my limbs to ease the pain.
Unfortunately I only managed to get one eye open, but I deemed it enough for now as I channeled mana into my neck so I could raise it and took in the surrounding sights.
'I really am at the bottom of the cliff, but how the hell did my childish and unreinforced body survive that fall?'
'That would be my doing, child.'
As I continued to search for an object that could have broken my fall, I suddenly heard a feminine voice ring throughout my head.
'Am I going insane? No, Telepathy?'
Once again as if to answer my question the voice rang out again.
'You really are quite quick on the uptake~'
Deciding to ignore the complement I focused on my body, which had finally recovered enough for me to move and pushed myself to my feet while ignoring the pain.
'Can I ask who you are, or why you saved me?'
Looking around I noticed that other than insects or small wildlife there was no other life forms nearby.
'If you want to know who I am you'll have to find my dwelling, as for why I saved you... let's just say I did it because I was moved by the way you protected your family.'
Hearing her response I could immediately tell that she was lying, but decided to keep it out of my thoughts since she was reading them. Instead I just gave a short nod and asked.
'Where exactly is your dwelling or how am I supposed to find you?'
There was a slight pause in her responses as suddenly I felt some strange force, forcefully penetrate my mind, giving me directions to what I assume to be her location.
'If you follow those directions you'll arrive at my dwelling, and I recommend you get going before it hits night. At that time you'll probably get eaten by beasts~'
Despite her unorthodox method of giving her location I was able to pretty easily grasp the route and steadied myself as I started to slowly walk in her direction.
'I really don't like this lady.'
'I heard that.'
'You were meant to.'
...
Although the distance between the cliff and her dwelling was only about two miles it took me almost four hours to reach her if I include the stop I made at a river I encountered to wash off the blood and dirt my body had accumulated. And finally after walking for what seemed to be an eternity I finally arrived at a huge pile of rocks.
'Is it hollow?'
'Yes, as amusing as it would be for me to be a pile of rocks, I'm inside them.'
I just ignored her attempt at a joke and searched for an opening in the rocks, finding one rather quickly as I cautiously stepped into it.
'Oh, by the way, I'd watch you step and reinforce yourself with mana.'
'What do you mea-'
I had expected and prepared for multiple different outcomes, but what I wasn't prepared for was another twenty meter drop into a cave that looked like it was lit up by snow globes.
'Their are not snow globes. Their mana fruit.'
'Shut up and fucking help me!'
As I was just a few meters above the ground my body was surrounded by a purple light and it froze mid air, before dropping me the last few meters.
"See, I even broke your fall, aren't I just the best~."
"Ya sure."
I spat in annoyance, affirming her statement half heartedly before dusting off my body and standing up to lock eyes with what I assumed to be the body of the voice.
"Oh, you don't seem too surprised."
What stood before me was what looked like a five meter tall giant with long black horns and full plate obsidian armor. The figure looked like something akin to a child's sleep paralysis demon as they sat lazily utop a crumbling throne.
"Honestly with your personality, you being a demon was within the realm of possibility."
Hearing my response the demon just chuckled and placed her hand over her heart in mock hurt.
"Ouch Arthur, that hurt~ Even after I saved you too, how ungrateful!"
Arthur? I didn't remember telling her my name, and considering the fact that she could already interfere with my mind to such an extent I just straightforwardly asked her.
"How do you know my name?"
She seemed slightly surprised at my question as her eyes squinted, but after determining that she had nothing to lose she gave an expected answer.
"I read your memories."
As she answered my question she pulled one of the glowing fruit off a plant and handed it to me, signaling me to eat while we talked.
"Can I ask how far into my memories you saw?"
After I asked the question a silence filled the room as she contemplated her answer while watching me eat, and finally, making up her mind she gave a fake smile and said.
"I've seen enough... Alex."
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A/N
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