The Princess of Wrath

Chapter 3 - Part III: The Reunion

"Sorry, Mr. Casimir, but not even the Gods are going to stop me from going to see Diana," she thought as she stood in front of the mirror, getting by with the resources she had on hand to be acceptably pretty to meet the woman she loved. Without having her pocket-watch in her possession, she assumed that approximately ten or fifteen minutes have passed since Roland left, an acceptable enough time interval.

When she left the room, having left the worst and most depressing moments of that secret conversation with the Alchemist in the dark corners of her mind, she with the terrifying gaze of Lucy's demonic mask. Startled, she released a little cry that alerted Royce, who at the moment was on patrol near the access to the medical ward.

"Fucking Endrel! You scared me, Lucy!" she reprimanded the Wraith, but rapidly remembered that she needed to act according to Roland's plan. "You want to me to piss all the medicine that Mr. Casimir gave me?"

"No, Princess. I apologize for startling you," Lucy solemnly replied and stepped aside to let her go out into the hallway.

"Roland Casimir told us that you needed to rest, my lady!" the gallant knight exclaimed with concern when he came to her side. Then looked up and down at her with suspicion. "That damn fiend didn't do anything weird, did he?"

"Not at all. And before you beg me to go back in there, let me tell you that nothing will stop me to go see how Diana is doing. So, please, let me pass."

With her eyes fixed on the medical ward, Asura tried to walk past the knight but he desperately raised his arms to make her stop.

"Wait, my lady!"

"Royce..."

"Please, hear me out: Diana Belmont left the ward more than half an hour ago! We saw her, she was alright! A bit mauled, but at least she was walking straight," he explained to her. Effectively, Asura not only stopped, but she beamed with abundant relief reflected in her tired face. "You can see the registry if you want to know the number of her room."

The knight was referring to a bulletin board that was two meters high and wide on the wall, several meters from where they were: in it were all the tournament participants alphabetically ordered by last name and their respective rooms with a descriptive map of the underground.

Naturally, Asura rushed to the board right away and found Diana's almost instantly. She was in room six, right at the beginning of the hallway.

"I'm going," she said with the enthusiasm of a little girl, but undoubtedly with the feelings of a woman that knew what she wanted. Royce did not seem to fully agree with her, while Lucy had stood so stealthily by her side to read the board that she only became aware of her close presence when she slightly turned her head to the side. "If I feel sick again, I will ask her to let me use her bed. You know how knightly and honorable she is."

"You are right about that, my lady. I will patrol near the stairs while the Wraith will stay in front of the door. Is that good to you?"

"Absolutely!"

When she turned around to go on her way to Diana's room, she saw someone came out of the medical ward and almost crossed in her path. He was one of the very few people she did not even want to see they face after what happened in the arena: Amos Caius Loren, totally spotless and without any injuries in plain sight, suddenly stopped walking when he saw her. 

He held a colorless tonic in one hand and his hat with the other. Strapped on his back was that monstrous dark sword that was used to defeat Diana...

In different circumstances, Asura would have asked for an autograph and tell him how much she admired him for his impressive ability to defeat the Shield Saint. But at that moment, she only felt a deep hatred for him.