A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: The Deathless Fortress]

"What a shitfest."

The vulgar words carried a soothing voice, an almost melodic sharpness that contrasted with the bluntness of the statement. And, of course, it belonged to none other than Ella.

They had left the cavern, and for the time being the prisoners and guards as well. The stale underground air gave way to the biting air of the ruined fortress above. Ivan felt the shift immediately —the way danger seemed to breathe more freely here.

They stood in a structure that had been utterly ruined, the roof gone and the hallways they stood in reduced to remnants of what they once were. Chunks of stone littered the ground. The walls, half-collapsed and torn open, left the entire corridor exposed to the outside.

Through the gaps, they had a clear view of the many Deseruit Beasts still prowling about.

Ivan found himself swallowing down nervousness. The sheer size of the beasts reminded him of the role he and Alexander were meant to play. Even if he had no idea how many would be attracted, even just one of the hulking creatures was enough to set him on edge.

Alexander seemed to share his nervousness but, as usual, did not voice it. His eyes were sharp, focused and a bit too wide.

Robert, meanwhile, wasn't paying attention to any of that. He was staring directly—and blissfully—at Ella. She stood with both hands resting easily on her hips as she stared at the devastation with zero urgency, zero fear, and zero concern—simply unbothered.

Ivan wasn't sure what she was looking for, but her crimson eyes were scanning the wide area quickly and efficiently. Almost as if she was cataloguing every threat in less than a second.

"Hm," she hummed lightly, a surprisingly pleasant sound as she finally tore her gaze away from the scene. "Alright. Let's move. I wanna see another section, maybe the view there won't be as depressing."

She ordered, and they obeyed without hesitation. As she began walking through the torn-down hallways, her steps were steady and light. Ivan found himself watching her move—something about the way she carried herself caught his attention more than he wanted to admit.

Her words still stuck with him, and not in a pleasant way. He kept replaying what she said in his head—memorably harsh, confidently spoken, and so strangely principled in their own warped logic.

("I can't help but wonder... just what exactly shapes that kind of viewpoint?") he mentally questioned. It wasn't a normal way to view things—neither justifiable nor comforting. At least not to the average moral standard. Her manner of speaking wasn't detached either. It was driven. Conviction so intense it bordered on unnatural.

But he was reminded of the look in her eyes when she spoke. They weren't empty. If anything, they held an intense fire—an unsettling certainty, a belief in her own ideals so strong it almost hurt to look at.

But what shaped an individual to be like that?

The question sat in his mind like a stone, an unexplained one.

Perhaps that was because he simply did not know Ella.

("Regardless of her views... I hope at the very least we can become acquaintances...") he thought. The idea surprised him. It wasn't as though Ella was a "nice" individual by any means. But she was… an enigma. Someone who naturally drew the eye, drew curiosity, even drew concern.

Ivan, though he would not admit it, wished to somehow change her views. She clearly knew how wrong her worldview was—yet she persisted with it. He wanted to understand why. He wanted, in some way, to fix it.

He mentally slapped himself.

("Why am I even thinking like this? She literally threatened to beat me for asking a question. Gods… I'm hopeless.")

Ella must have sensed his gaze, because she turned her head slightly to look at him. Ivan immediately glanced away like a startled cat.

"Got something to say?" Ella questioned, stopping abruptly. The sudden halt forced all of them to stop as well. "Or do you always stare at people like that? Am I just that special?"

"N-no, it's nothing," Ivan breathed out quickly. Ella raised a brow, unimpressed.

"If you're gonna stare holes into the back of my head at least have the guts to say something. Or what, your feelings hurt 'cause of what I said?" she scoffed.

Robert heaved a small sigh beside her as Alexander shot Ivan a sympathetic glance.

Robert chimed in with a calm smile. "Ella, dear, Ivan's simply on edge. Perfectly natural. After all, this is quite a dangerous—"

"Won't be dangerous if you're competent," Ella cut in, flicking a hand dismissively.

"Well, yes, but—" Robert tried again.

"Come on, Robert. You really think any of us have time to sit around worrying about what-ifs? If you're worried a situation will kill you, it probably will."

Alexander frowned a little. "That's… not exactly helpful."

Ella lifted her chin and smirked. "Helpful? I'm not here to babysit your moods. You want helpful? Fine. Here's a tip: don't do anything stupid. See? Advice of the century."

Alexander tried again. "That's not really—"

Ella rolled her eyes, talking right over him. "Power isn't everything, anyway. Idiots with power are still idiots. Half the time people who rely on it get themselves killed faster. When I was younger—much weaker—I took down a monster without a drop of power to my name."

Alexander's curiosity perked immediately. Ella didn't seem the type to talk about her past, so he latched onto the opportunity quickly. "Monster? Like a Deseruit Beast?" he questioned.

Ella actually regarded him.

"Nah. Far worse than these pests," she corrected. "Hell, I've seen a ton of monsters and scumbags, but that particular monster was the worst. Of course it was an easy kill. But that's all you're getting from me."

Alexander frowned slightly, disappointed by the vagueness, but Ella just kept going on.

"Point is, if you need power to solve all your issues, then you're just a brute or an idiot. There's tons of things to fall back on… if you're not worthless." She flashed a smug smile at the end for no discernable reason. "So just don't be fools and maybe you won't be killed, huh?"

Ivan frowned at her words. Regardless of her tone, it felt as if she had no real regard for their lives. It was just the way she spoke, so casually cruel, so dismissively… it twisted something in him.

("Is she truly that heartless?") he wondered, staring at her. Everything she said and did pointed toward that. It left a sour taste in his mouth. But he didn't want to believe such people actually existed. More than that, he wanted it to not be true. ("A facade maybe... but really, no girl...") His thoughts drifted off.

Then he noticed Ella's eyes trail down toward the floor… and widen in genuine horror.

"A—AH!"

A loud—but oddly cute—shriek pierced the air. Ella all but jumped backward. Unconsciously, she flung herself in Robert's direction, colliding with him. Luckily he steadied himself, holding Ella as if he had been waiting his whole life for this moment.

Alexander and Ivan both jumped at her reaction, expecting a threat.

What they found instead was…

A rat.

Just a rat.

It scurried across the cracked floor, past Ella's feet. Ella recoiled violently, letting out another tiny squeak as she hopped back a foot, lifting her skirt instinctively. As though tiny creature were a demon.

Ivan blinked.

Alexander blinked.

Robert stared, but with tears of joy shimmering in his eyes.

("Did she just scream… because of a rat?") Alexander blinked again just to be sure, staring at Ella—Ella, who currently looked horrified, clinging to Robert's arms like a frightened child. Robert, for his part, looked like he had been blessed by the heavens.

Ella quickly realized this, pushed off him with a disgusted look, and stood stiffly. Robert deflated like a kicked puppy.

"Uhm..." Ivan began awkwardly, unsure how to approach this surreal moment. "Are… are you alright?"

"S-shut the hell up!" Ella exploded. "You three saw NOTHING! I wasn't scared of that damn rat. Just disgusted. Yeah, I didn't notice it because I was talking to you dumbasses. And it's no damn crime to find rats disgusting—second only to cockroaches. My reaction was justified, in fact! I don't know why the hell you're looking at me like that. Anyone would react like that. Just because you didn't doesn't mean anything. In fact it makes you weird!"

She said all of that in one breath—impressively—before glaring murderously at them. Which somehow only made her even cuter.

The three blinked at once.

("Is… is this really the same girl?") Ivan wondered. The difference was so stark he struggled to reconcile them. This flustered, expressive girl felt human—real—in a way Ella hadn't before.

"R-right..." Alexander managed, still flustered. "N-no shame in it at all. We're all disgusted by rats, right? I mean, everyone gets startled by—"

"I WASN'T STARTLED!" Ella snapped. "It just—caught me off guard! It wasn't fear, it was survival instinct!"

"Of course," Alexander nodded quickly. "Totally natural."

"Mhm," Ivan agreed, voice cracking slightly.

Robert stepped forward dramatically. "Dearest Ella, fear not. Should another rat appear, I will gladly throw myself between you and the vile creature. Consider me your shield against the smallest and most reprehensible of beasts."

"Grrr." Ella growled, clenching her fist as her eye twitched. Violently. "Robert," she said dangerously. "I swear on every God above and below—if you speak again I will personally feed you to the Deseruit Beasts."

"Understood," Robert said cheerfully.

Ella inhaled sharply through gritted teeth. "I'm giving you the signal when everything's ready. Robert, you find your own damn way back."

And in the next moment she vanished—a fluid, seamless transition—and she was simply gone.

"I may have angered her," Robert noted solemnly.

Alexander and Ivan stared at him with the driest expressions they could muster.