Time

A clock tower in the distant town chimes four notes, a normally mundane sound turned chillingly ominous in these circumstances. It echoes through the enclosed chamber, making it impossible to ignore and filling Otto’s chest with rising dread. The unrelenting passage of time is a peculiar thing to fear. Borderline irrational. But when a few measly hours are the only thing standing between a man and certain demise, each passing moment can feel like a hated enemy striking a lethal blow right to his throat. A heart wrenching betrayal of a sort that he is more than familiar with after recent events.

Some part of him refused to believe it would ever end this way. Bested by the righteous and beaten down once more… he never claimed to be on the side of good, but he thought the karmic order of the universe may support his pursuit of justice. It just didn't seem right that he should suffer and lose twice… so he struggled to achieve his revenge against his brother who wronged him so long ago.

But in the end, he was met with only more failure. The power of genuine bonds defeated him in that final battle, the kind he’s never known, only ever pretended to have. Now he waits in the depths of despair for them to dispose of him once and for all. The cold stale air of the Drachmeerian dungeon has tightened his joints after spending so much time cooped up. He holds his hands up in front of his face and attempts to work the kinks out of his fingers, but his whole body is rebelling after a couple weeks on the stone floor.

He can't decide if the view here is better or worse than his accommodations with the Guardians. At least there he was permitted basic human comforts like a cot to sleep on. Drachmeer had no laws protecting the rights of those waiting to die, but he did occasionally get to see another human down here. And the walls aren't quite as monotonous as they were in the prison. Not that his opinion matters much.

It's a strange sensation, to be aware of the imminent approach of death. To have forewarning to mentally prepare for his end. It gives a lot of time for unwanted contemplation…

Thoughts like what did it all mean? And did any of this matter? Echo through his mind. That's not something he considered before this moment, what he would leave behind in the world after he was gone. A very... human and tedious whimsy, the kind he normally wouldn't waste time on, but with so little left… it's all he can think about.

Have I done anything to better this world…? Taken lives, destroyed others, stolen and lied and cheated… no. Nothing of value. I was nothing but a vessel for anger and spite to lash out at whoever would stand in my way… in this moment… he wishes he were more.

Well… there is one thing. One thing he gave rather than took. His knowledge, to his prized star pupil Vesilla Lular. Perhaps the only meaningful thing he's ever done. He would've given her so much more… if she'd only taken his hand.

But she was naive, foolish. Blinded by impossible ideals and callous in her dismissal of his offer despite all the nights they shared and relied upon each other... She is a vile woman-...

He sighs weakly.

If my final hours of life aren't the time to be honest with myself… then when will it be?

He loves her. He loves her so much. He cares for Vesi in a way he's never known he was capable of. She is the first person to value his life at all, to share in his deep capacity for emotions… some raw and bitter like vengeance and rage but also some not quite so deplorable… like his competitive nature and ambition. He sees them in her in a way he never has in another person. It validated him, made him feel like he did deserve to be happy. And there is nowhere in the world he's ever been happier then by her side. He thought just maybe… she'd be able to see all of him without being blinded by her hatred. But that was a foolish notion.

Her betrayal shook him to his very core. He's always been alone, for as long as he can remember. So why did her confirmation of that fact make it feel more real than ever…? From the moment she rejected him he's felt as if he's been floating in an abyss of nothingness and isolation as far as the eyes can see… an entirely new meaning to the word ‘alone’ without her...

“Let me help you, Vesilla. Take my hand. Please.” he holds it out, waiting… wanting her so bad. He wonders if she can hear his heart racing with her keen senses. Wonders if she knows how easy it would be to break it.

She takes in his true face, no longer hidden behind a mask of lies and temptation, “After everything you've done?! Never! You're despicable...! I hate you!!!” the words hurt more than any of their magic ever could.

He actually feels it… the complete desolation of his empathy. The shrinking feeling of his chest as the last of his hope and humanity is purged from him. Damaged beyond repair.

He retracts his hand and his head rolls back. A deep chuckle rises from the depths of his chest echoing in the silence of the Caershire marketplace. An eerie sound that's unsettling even to him, a recognition of the new depths of depravity that he's sunk to, “Fine. Then die alongside the rest of your pathetic guild!”

Her abandonment gave him the final shove he needed to tear the soul from Lukas Urfang's body and turn it against them. A new, near limitless power… almost unstoppable. 

He never did find out if he had the resolve to kill her. He spent most of the fight avoiding her entirely, striking back with words rather than blows.

“I taught you that move, Vesilla! You've learned so much from me you can no longer tell where my influence ends and your inherent skill begins!”

“You still have much to learn, look at all I could have taught you! I'd have given you everything, yet you choose to squander your talents!”

“You're weak, pathetic! If you can't even defeat me how do you ever think you'll stop the eclipse?!”

But in the end, her bonds with her friends proved strong enough to overwhelm him despite the most cruel words he could muster. It became clear that he was nothing but the villain meant to oppose their heroism all along. The role he was carefully crafted by the world to play. His short time as a mentor was nothing more than a lie.

It wasn't always like that with her. Aching pains of conflicting emotions raging within him like an unstoppable cyclone. That's not how he remembers Vesi. Most days were like a calm cloudless day with her. Comfortable. Right.

Arriving to their nightly gatherings to find her early, waiting for him. The first time he's ever been wanted. Praising her when she mastered a new move, sharing in her success and pushing her inch by inch towards greatness. The casual rapport they developed of playful banter that masked his deeper feelings for her, though evidently a casual friendship was all she felt towards him. 

Even the days when she struggled, choosing to come to him to vent about the drama with her friends… Tears pricking in the corner of her eyes and fists clenched tightly at her side as she endures a pain he can't understand, but wants so badly to heal. At one point he would've laughed out loud at the idea that he would bat an eye at such trivial problems. But the moment he saw Vesi in turmoil, it became a paramount concern. All he could think of was a way to help her ease the pain her strained friendships were causing her. Going so far as to visit Andrius in person to lecture him on her behalf…  anything to see her smile again.

What he wouldn't give to see her smile right now.

Where did I go so wrong…? She may have never loved him, but there was a bond between them. He had to believe that.

She could never forgive me for killing Freyja… he knows that's the truth… but that wasn't intended to hurt her! He was thinking only of punishing Almeric! At the time of her death, he barely knew Vesi beyond the identity of just one more irritating Phoenix Wing wizard…

He never wanted to hurt her with his actions, just Almeric. And destabilize Phoenix Wing… but through that course of action, she became an unwanted casualty. Caught up in his path of destruction.

So that's it then. He was doomed to this end from the beginning. He was destined to oppose Almeric, to strike back against the wrongs done to him. And Vesi and Almeric are connected through their guild, so it would always end this way. The pain he caused her was unavoidable, just like the betrayal she cast back at him in retaliation. Vesi was meant to oppose him, to undo the wrongs he caused. This is how it was meant to be. No matter how much he struggled, their paths would always come to an end right here and in this way.

The clock tower announces the passage of yet another hour. Slipped through his fingers like sand in an hourglass while he lamented his lost love. The sound of armored boots up the hall draws his attention and he shuts his eyes tight to block out the dungeon for as long as possible. He spends those final seconds trying desperately to conjure an image of Vesi smiling just one more time…

---

That evening, Vesi is settling in to bed when the Caershire clocktower announces it as 10 o'clock. The day is over, and the deed is surely done.

She had no interest in seeing the execution, she never wanted to see him again, frankly. She's never felt more manipulated in her life… Cyrus, the man she trusted most. Her teacher… confidant… and maybe even misplaced crush… was only an illusion. The man who was actually invading her dreams was Otto Fenhardt. The murderer who took one of her old mentors from her and scared the other mentor away. Then masqueraded as one himself in some malicious ploy to get close to her... And now he's taken her trust too.

He deserved to pay for the pain he caused her guild. He would have destroyed them… he killed Freyja, brainwashed her mom! These are the actions of a selfish and heartless man. She can't help but wonder if she was just another stepping stone in his path. Did he care at all? Why train me in the first place? What was the point?!

Not to mention he threatened to kill her. His voice was raspy and devoid of all feeling, she'd never heard him speak that way before. Yet in the fight, he ignored her almost completely. Andrius and the others are covered in bruises and wounds from the fight that are still healing but she's in near perfect condition...

Now it just feels like she's forced to mourn another mentor, though this one never truly existed. The man who died today was a liar and a killer, and the world is better off without him. Whatever his reason for toying with her heart, she knows that without a doubt.

She can only hope that with time, this aching feeling of betrayal will fade. At least now, with him gone, she can get a decent night's rest with no night training to occupy her mind.

She falls in to her bed, the cool covers settling around her as she curls up in to the relative security of home. She wants to sleep so badly, to put this day and this entire chapter for her guild behind her for good. But the echo of his voice won't leave her ears. A cacophony of countless things he said to her.

“Fine! Then die alongside your pathetic guildmates!” the one she hardly recognized, as if spoken by a stranger. As broken and mangled as she felt inside that they must oppose each other, but this is his fault. He's the killer.

“Well done, Vesilla! You mastered that move in record time. I'm so proud of your progress!” the one she heard a million times. He was always generous with his praise when she performed well. Distant emotionally, but she knows now that was not without cause. And never unkind.

“Let me help you, Vesilla. Take my hand… please.” the other one she hardly recognized. Though this one is from a different stranger entirely, with an honest heart and heavy eyes. A man that wants to be with her… But she didn't know him either. No better than she knew the killer.

She groans in frustration at the mental clutter and buries her face in her pillow in a pointless attempt to block out his internal monologue of her memories. It takes a while, but eventually she drifts off in to sleep.

A peculiar thing happens after… when she next opens her eyes she sees something she hasn't in many months. Since right about the time Tahlin died to be exact… she recalls that was when she began training with Cyr- Otto…

Before her lies an endless expanse of desert stretching as far as the eye can see. The sun intensifies to a blinding light that forces her to cover her eyes. She gasps in fear at what waits for her when she looks again, the solar dragonslayer. Crimson tattoos glowing with immense power and spear drawn at his side as he sizes her up, “Ah so you've returned at last… welcome back Vesi.”

She takes a single nervous step back on to unsteady sand and shakes her head in disbelief. She finally realizes… far too late… Otto was shielding her from these nightmares. Even after she rejected him… right up until his final breath.

She can feel herself starting to hyperventilate but the solar dragonslayer is as ruthless as she remembers. He merely smirks and launches at her with an attack and ear splitting battle cry she remembers all too well before she succumbs to the nightmare once more.