Cer was not the only sibling close to Raoul.

Res had a personal history with him too.

It wasn't as convoluted as Cer and Raoul's relationship.

If anything, it was simple.

On rainy days when Res had nothing to do but remain by her mother's side… Watching the silhouettes of children stomp in the mud behind a paper screen, Raoul would arrive at her room wearing the perfume of flowers.

Rainy days weren't the only times Raoul visited. The home Res shared with her mother was only permitted to herself, Lethe, and Raoul. He could leave and enter whenever he wanted for a time before their mother's condition caused her to forget Raoul altogether.

Res did not know much about the outside world. She had lived almost 12 years of her life sheltered within her room. The world she learned came exclusively from Raoul and the chatters of villagers. The walls were paper thin, so she could always hear about the stories of their daily lives.

How a woman's hands had been cut all over because of handling the well, where Res' hands had not known a single day of hard labor.

Or how a man's face had become infected because of his exposure to the elements, whilst Res' skin was pristine because of her mother's daily cleansing rituals. Of her sisters, Res was the only one who Raoul confided his thoughts to.

"It's bright outside. The sun sets later the more east you go. If you're fast enough, you can travel across Elysia in a single day. No one has to mess with the night." A young Raoul spoke to an even younger Res.

The little girl was decorated with petals and sapphire trinkets reserved for royalty. Their town had little to their name, but Res was a direct descendant of the Blue Dahlia. This was, if anything, too little for a girl from a respected bloodline.

"Whaaat? Really!? No one has to deal with the moon!?"

"None of the Nights, or the night itself. Just an unchanging sun." Raoul smiled warmly from the memory.

"Woooah! Wouldn't that mean you could run forever, and it would always be daytime!?"

"Ahaha, Res… It's not that simple."

"But it can work! You're saying it can!"

"We can test it out one day. But we'd need a ship too. Not to mention a dragon."

"Oooh! To go beyond the shores!"

"Not quite beyond the shores. Close. It'd be nice to be able to keep running, wouldn't it?"

"But wouldn't your feet get tired?"

"Exactly. And they do. It'd be nice to settle. But your brother is always busy. I really do envy the everyman. All they have to worry about is when's their next meal."

"Thanks to you!"

That same Raoul, who despised change, had changed in front of Res. But that same Raoul in the past was not afraid of change.

"The world it's nicer around Brandar. I heard big news from Beholder Galia. They want to create a bastion. A paradise. Nothing like the city of Paradise and Puritas. We should move there, when this is all behind us."

A slightly aged Raoul then took his place.

"There was another war over the territory in Brandar. Miss Galia won't give up. She's relentless. But she has to have a limit. What will change by founding the Nex Megalopolis, if things are only going to get worse?"

The last version of Raoul Res remembered appearing before her in that room.

He was still so young, but he had endured a lifetime's worth of torment. Raoul was the only person who had been protecting their village from the shadows. And by extension, the Solemn Paw had attempted to safeguard the Demi-Humans of Grandis from Puritas.

But despite his efforts, despite everything he had done, nothing had changed.

"Res… Mother has forgotten me. Beholder Carpalis offered us tickets to the Golden City. We can't take it. If we're bound to change, and to become forgotten, then what is the point of struggling? I'm tired, Res. The Solemn Paw led me nowhere. What can one man do against the entirety of Puritas? I've never stopped running. I've hoped to better our life, so that we can stay in the sun. But misery has never stopped following me. Death has me in its embrace. My feet have grown tired. I haven't slept in weeks. They still call out to me in my sleep… I just want to sleep. Please don't change. I can't lose the only things that haven't been taken away from me."

His stagnation, and his call to become a Star occurred not long after one of his last encounters with Res.

* * *

"You were like that damned sun you didn't want to disappear to me! And when you left… I went to chase you…" Res' grip waned.

She could not hold it against Raoul like Cer. Raoul had suffered enough.

This wouldn't change anything, because Raoul herself did not want to change.

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Res' memories were projected upon a cracked window to the past. The golden light radiated with an unnatural warmth. Frost did not use the Traumatic Clock. Her only culprit was Jury, but she did not execute this either.

The resonance must have been so powerful that it was able to materialize on its own.

Either that, or…

< Possibly a combination of your and Jury's presence. The Genesis Stones are known to induce retrospective memories. You are the Router of the Nexus. I imagine this will become more common >

"… And you saw a Star beyond the shoreline." Raoul shallowly uttered.

"It destroyed me. I spent thirty years wandering in purgatory before I was liberated from my hell."

"This is still hell. You've only gotten strong enough to tolerate it. Sooner or later–"

"–It doesn't concern me anymore. I live in the present Raoul. You're still stuck in the past… When will you realize that?"

Res allowed Raoul to slide against the wall. She took several steps back when Raoul refused to answer.

"The least you can do is just look at them."

"I don't have the right to."

She sincerely believed this. The twins glanced at each other, then at themselves again.

"You'll regret it when you have no one left to look at." Res surrendered and joined Frost's side, her tail wrapping around her hip alongside Jury's. "Orth. Thras. Take their arms. Bring them with you."

The twins did as she said. Raoul didn't resist as they took an arm each and lifted her to her feet.

"Misery. Death… Will follow, no matter what I do. What right do I have anymore, when my involvement only endangers loved ones? I've seen it again, and again and again in this wretched world."

A nearby pillar cracked. A shadow darker than the void swirled within. Suddenly, the image of a headless, black-suited figure carrying an enormous scythe appeared in the reflection of the pillar.

A top hat floated where its head would be as gloved hands clutched the scythe and drew it backwards, preparing to swing at Raoul and the twins.

"RAOUL! GET DOWN!" Frost shouted as she dashed forward.

Raoul barely reacted. Whether she had resigned herself to the manifestation of death, or she simply did not realize the danger she was in was unknown. Frost's speed was admirable, but she would not make it in time.

"An aberration of death will never touch one of my lovely Angels~" Jury's tail clashed with the scythe, giving Frost ample time to drag Raoul and the twins away.

Frost expected the figure to be flung towards the wall. Jury was an immovable force. However, the scythe remained in place, never budging against her tail as pale and black motes of light exploded from where they made contact.

Jury's stats are maxed out as far as I'm concerned. That thing didn't budge at all!

"Invulnerability is a possibility."

That would mean it's either a Corrupted or can use Qliphoth to its advantage.

"Indestructible?" Jury followed her attack with a deadly claw-swipe, only for it to bounce off the shoulder of the suited figure. "… What…!? Impossible! Frost!? A-An e-explanation!?"

"Status!"

Caretaker of the Valley of Immortal Resignation Death

< Insistent, everlasting. They've tried to run from scythe. But they were not aware that they were not yet ripe for the harvest >

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< Unknown Threat Level >

< You do not possess a high enough Soul Quality to view the Stats of ??? or equivalent-level entities >

< You require an attuned Advent of Ego to view the information of ??? or equivalent-level entities >

"Hypnos?" Raoul seemed to recognize the figure. "No, you're… why does it look like a Memento Mori Ankou?"

"Memento Mori are the puppeteers of death! Why would they represent the same thing they're trying to escape!?" Jury exclaimed, shocked as each of her attacks were perfectly clashed by this figure. "It's… Annoying… You dare swing at my love!?"

As Jury remained locked in combat with this figure, another pillar cracked, this time revealing a headless woman in a pale suit. Held in her hands was a book where 26 letters phased in an out of existence like specks of dust caught in a ray of light.

The Alabaster Mistress Misery

< Unending proof written in the blood of the martyrs. Blood let yourself in this inkwell, and invite this beloved mistress into your mourning heart >

Frost received the same warning as the incarnation of Death.

"… It's the same as you Jury. Stats are unreadable! What the hell are you suppose to be!?" Frost blurted out.

"An Angel, of course!"

"The other's a Librarian. The Expositionist. Or a Scraper." Res noted, rushing towards with an electric-charged fist as Acedia sent a strike of her own.

The symbol of a 'B' appeared, and it spelt 'Barrier'. Instantly, a beautiful spherical barrier appeared, blocking their attack.

"Tch! Acedia! It's open from behind!" Res shouted.

"Going for it–!"

The Alabaster Mistress did not wait. By the time Res had begun speaking, they had already written the next spell.

'M – Misery.'

"Gaaaaah! That… hurts… like hell! No damage… What was that!?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

A surge of agony washed over the two when the letter 'M' landed on their bodies. The words 'Misery' snaked along their limbs like chains, spreading the agony like poison. It faded away after a few seconds, but it was enough to mentally incapacitate Acedia, who refused to close the distance again.

"ACEDIA! DO YOUR JOB RIGHT!" Res commanded. "Severe the pillars. Break the walls. Do something if you're going to dress as Frost!"

"Mother… Mother… I can't…!"

"Acedia…" Frost grit her teeth.

These were options Frost could not enact herself, because it indirectly involved the injury of another person. The fact that this was true meant that both the incarnation of Death and Misery were living entities or were Corrupted at worst.

She was ultimately relegated to commanding the rest of the group.

"Raoul! Start running! If you can't fight, then carry someone! It's slow! Jury, keep Death away from us!"

"I'll do you one better! I'll enact judgement upon it~!"

Frost's observation was juvenile, since there was a possibility that the Mistress chose to not rush forward.

If this was the case, then proclaiming this would have caused them to speed up as to not lose them. Two more possibilities came to mind. Either this confirmed it was a non-sentient Corrupted, or it was toying with them.

"… That's no Librarian." Raoul's spat through clenched teeth as Acedia scooped her over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "That's… that suit… It belongs to an Author."

"You recognize it!?" Frost shouted, holding the hand of Orth as Res took Thras. The dashed past the Mistress, leaving Jury behind to deal with Death.

"It was what my old teacher adorned. An Author of Existentia of the highest order but was separated from that group to the extent that he might not have been Librarian at all."

Raoul spoke with scathing familiarity.

For once, there was an immense hatred in her eyes.

"That person appeared… he knew me better than I knew myself. He was the one who taught me about the cave. He was right. Misery is a relentless mistress who will stop at nothing until you break in her arms. But had I been ignorant like the everyman… then misery would never have come for me…"

She looked at the twins and mournfully sealed her eyes.

"Or them."

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