The Songstress (Ni No Kuni Fanfiction) ~A Watty's 2019 Submission

Chapter 62

Things were looking bleak for Oliver, both in his head, and outside.

Days had passed since the battle with Vileheart, and Oliver still hadn't woken up. 

"Oliver!" Esther whispered one day, she and Drippy at his bedside. They were staying in Anciana's house while Oliver recovered, though the end of whatever he was going through didn't appear to be near. "Oh, why won't you wake up?" Esther whispered to herself. "What happened to you back there?" 

"How many days is it since poor Ollie-boy had his lights put out?" Drippy finally croaked out. The normally talkative fairy had been barely able to ask for someone to pass him the salt in the days that Oliver hadn't been around. He was the one who had brought them all together, the one that really made the small family they had. Now that he was gone, it was almost as if all hope was lost.

"I-I don't know. I"ve lost count." Esther admitted, answering to Drippy's question, and Drippy shook his head sadly.

"He opened the Soulsnare all full of hope, but instead of setting Alicia free, the pooer dab ended up being knocked out cold." Drippy recited this as though he were a narrator of a storybook, before speaking to Oliver directly. "Come on, Ollie-boy! Maybe its ouer fault... Maybe we asked too much of you and youer magic powers." Esther nodded, holding in tears. She had to be strong for all of them, especially Oliver. The gods knew nobody else was.

"Perhaps you're right." Then she looked around, and knew that two other people were missing from the room. "Hold on! Where's Swaine and Harmony got to now?" The two of them had made a habit of wandering off, neither unable to just sit and wonder what happened to Oliver. Both of them were free roamers, and had to keep moving to keep thinking.

"Them?" Drippy asked. "Oh, they're lurking about outside, I reckon. As flipping usual..." Esther shook her head, irritated.

"Gah! They're never there when you need them!" 

"Tell them to come back inside. Can't stay round by here forever, can we? We need to get Ollie-boy somewhere safe." She nodded, though she knew it was going to be difficult to get the two of them moving. 

"You're right..." She then headed for the door, and looked around.

Harmony was hiding, however. She had found a small cave dug out by familiars higher up on the mountain and was hiding out there. 

She had never hated herself more than she did right in that moment. She knew better than to let Oliver touch the Soulsnare. She knew nothing good could have come from Oliver picking it up and learning the truth! And now he was as good as dead! 

She knew that as soon as Shadar was gone, she had to leave. She couldn't be around Oliver anymore and let him get hurt by her again.

"Swaine!" She heard Esther's voice below. Swaine had found himself watching the clouds go by over the mountains. It was how he gathered his thoughts.

"Oh, Esther... It's you." Even Swaine sounded more down than ever. It was as if Shadar had taken everyone's belief.

"Where's Harmony?" Esther asked. "Why do you two keep wandering off? You should be with us. With Oliver." This got Swaine riled up.

"A fat lot of good that'll do! Having me around is going to help him snap out of it, is it? Well? Is it?" 

"That's not the point!" Esther told him, her voice getting choked up, and Swaine looked away from her.

"I know... Oliver saved us. His magic saved us. We owe it all to him..." Swaine spoke like Harmony felt, and she could tell Esther was feeling it too.

"Yes." The younger girl said, looking at her feet. "We were brokenhearted, all of us, and..." 

"And no look at us! We can't do a thing for him, can we? Just when he needs us most, there's nothing we can do! Damn it!" Esther looked up, trying to be strong for him.

"Swaine... It's all right..." She tried, more so sounding like she was trying to convince herself that everything was okay, rather than trying to get Swaine to believe it. 

"Oh, but there is something you can do..." Came an eerily familiar voice. One that finally drew Harmony from her hiding place to jump down with the other two, her staff drawn. "You can DIE!" They all looked over, and Vileheart made his appearance, chuckling darkly.

"Dammit!" Harmony growled, all three of them in complete shock at the sight of the creature they thought they had beaten.

"But... But we beat you!" Esther exclaimed, only for Vileheart to laugh at her.

"You think Vileheart can be defeated so easily? No, I am born of despair... I am born of the darkness in man's heart... And there is plenty to go around! Heh heh heh heh heh!" 

"Okay, that laugh is officially on my nerves now!" Harmony snarled. She was in no mood for a battle right now.

"Dammit! What do we do!?" Swaine asked them. He was less sure about this than Harmony was. "We don't have a hope in hell without Oliver!" But Esther knew better, and held her harp out as though it were a sword, ready to use it.

"What choice do we have!?" She demanded of Swaine. " We have to try!" 

"Then let's not waste anymore time!" Harmony told them, shooting an Arrow of Light at Vileheart and knocking him back into the mountain. "Come on, you two! Let's do this! For Oliver!" 

"For Oliver!"