The Crimson Tale of Conquest

Once the ship got far enough away from the City, the crew had let the sails of the ship down. The large black sails of the 'MS Ann' grandly belowed in the early fall air. The sun had set and the sea of stars spread out before them in a grand cosmic display of beauty.

Lucilla found herself looking up at the stary night sky. The moon was not full, but it's silver light still reflected off her hair, giving it the illusion of glowing, like a silver halo surrounding her head. One could be forgiven in thinking the Moon Goddess had decided to bless her with otherworldly beauty in this moment. Next to her sat Sara, she too was looking up at the night sky with an expression too hard to read. What the girl was thinking was a mystery to the Crimson eyed woman.

Wanting to have a private conversation with the girl, Lucilla quietly requested Maisy to go somewhere else. The slime complied and stealthily vacated from Lucilla's clothing to elsewhere on the ship. Lucilla waited a while, working up the courage before speaking.

"Why did you decide to do this anyway?" The older woman asked, turning to Sara.

"...." Sara hesitated. She wasn't sure if she should confide in Lucilla. She looked into the Crimson eyes of the monster next to her. Lucilla stayed silent waiting for Sara to respond. She was going to just stay silent when the memory of warmth she felt from the Silver haired womans hug surfaced. The warm and tenderness of the hug was at odds to what Lucilla usually displayed, but there was no mistaken the care she felt from it. After a moment of silence between the two of them Sara finally answered.

"I... I didn't know what else to do." Sara spoke, her voice trembling slightly. "My own brother left me to die, and I have no idea if my father even knew about what was happening down there."

Sara looked away from Lucilla and looked down. She hadn't really had time to process or even express everything she's been feeling since waking up. She could've talked with her maid but there wasn't time, and she never got an opportunity to be with her one on one. Despite her current distrust of Lucilla, she was also the only person she felt comfortable confiding in. The stress over the past few days was starting to become too much.

"I only wish to get convince Lady Nielia to at the very least spare my city... I can't stop my Father and Brother from marching towards the forest..." She took a shaky breath. "But I can save my city...."

"...." Lucilla watched the girl next to her, she raised her hand to the girl's head, but hesitated for a moment before resting her right hand atop her scalp.

"Teacher... I... what do you think I should've done?" Sara asked as she leaned forward and buried her face into her hands. "Maybe I should've just gone home? I don't think my father would've condone what was happening, but... what if I'm wrong?"

Tears weld up in Sara's eyes. Everything about this situation was terribly unpleasant, and Lucilla being the only comfort she had at this moment made her feel even more miserable. She was scared. The only thing she could cling onto right now was her duty as a child of the Prosperty family. Right now, that was the only thing she can hold on to.

"... I'm not sure what the right answer would be." Lucilla answered after a brief pause. "The only thing you can do is what you feel is right."

"What I feel is right...." Sara went silent as she thought Lucilla's words over. "... Will you be there for whatever I choose?" She said with a hint of desperation in her voice.

"Sure. I'll stick with whatever you choose. This is your problem, I'm just here to help." Promised Lucilla.

Still having her head stroked by the older woman, the girl lifted her head and look back at her teacher. "Why are you helping me teacher?" She asked, tears streaming down her face. "Were you promised something in exchange?"

Lucilla's hand stopped moving when Sara asked her that question. This caused the girls chest to tighten. 'Is she only doing this for a reward after all?' Was the only person she felt any semblance of closeness with only using her to gain something? Was she destined to be abandoned by everyone around her? Such thoughts flew through her mind like a torrent of rushing water.

"Oh yeah." Lucilla spoke, oblivious to the bundle of anxiety that was Sara. "I guess I was promised something... Something about a portal I think." Lucilla then furrowed her brows.

"Yeah, I was promised something... that's why I'm helping you. Yes, that must be the reason." Lucilla said, more to herself than Sara.

"...." Studying her face Sara, for the first time since meeting Lucilla, she felt as if her teacher was lying.

Other than the lying about her identity as being the monster woman, which was understandable as far as the girl was concerned; Sara doesn't really have any memory of her teacher being untruthful. To her personally at the very least. Sara knew her Teacher never went out of her way to tell an outright lie, as far as she was aware of anyway.

Looking at her teacher's scrunched up face as she muttered to herself about how she was doing this for a reward, Sara got the feeling she was trying to convince herself of this fact more than she was trying to convince her. Especially since she couldn't even remember what the reward she was promised even was.

"Thank you." Sara muttered as she leaned into her teacher's chest. Tears streamed down her face as she unsuccessfully tried to stop crying. The relief she felt to realize her teacher, despite the questionable actions she did to her, was, at the very least, on her side in this moment in time. She and Lucilla were going have to talk about what happened that night, but that could wait. She just needed to feel the comfort of someone.

Having Sara suddenly lean into her chest, quietly shaking, Lucilla stopped muttering to herself, and instinctively wrapped her arms around the girl without thinking. They stayed that way for about an hour. The grassy plains she saw in the distant slowly transformed into a forest. As they traveled, Lucilla notice one of the crew would occasionally come up and dump something from a bag over bored. She assumed this was what allowed them to enter the forest and not be attacked by the river monsters and beast.

--- --- ---

After an hour or so Sara seemed to have calmed down. Looking down at the brown-haired girl in her arms Lucilla deiced that if there was a time to do this, it was now. "Sara, are you still awake?" There was no answer for a moment. Lucilla was afraid the girl had already dozed off.

"... Yeah... I'm awake." Sara eventually answered.

"I'm sorry." Spoke the older woman.

Sara looked up from where her face was buried in Lucilla's chest with wide eyes. The last thing she expected to hear today was an apology from Lucilla. She searched her face looking for what could've prompted such a thing, considering the woman has been avoiding the topic the entire time. The only thing Lucilla did was absent mindedly touch the scar on her left jaw. One of two marks on her otherwise pristine skin. The other being the tattoo of the number twenty-two.

"I haven't forgiven you yet." Sara said eventually, once Lucilla lowered her hand from her scar and wrapped it around her again.

"I know."

Silence once again descended on the two of them. Sara wanted to ask why Lucilla decided it was necessary to use dark magic on her. She could guess and was confident she knows the answer. That did not change the feeling of betrayal she felt in that moment.

Yet she didn't. She didn't want to ruin this atmosphere. She didn't want Lucilla to let go of her. She didn't want to let go of this warmth, this feeling of safety. A feeling she hasn't felt since the death of her mother. So, she remained quiet. Letting the cool air of early fall carry her worries away till morning came.