Better Strangers

To earn the title of Paladin was an honor of recognition that few could boast. It wasn't nearly enough to be beloved by Wisp, nor to pursue the teachings of the Wisp Dominion; Wisp adepts were an entirely separate existence from that of a Paladin. The word denoted its holder as one of an elite peerage, whom dedicated themselves to stand above the world in tireless honing of mind, body and discipline. It was a seal of understood skill and experience that bespoke committment and dedication.

It was a lie, and you couldn't remember when that particular title had become yours. There was no martial order which bestowed it, nor reclusive council of masters which convened to grant pracitioner hopefuls a rank among their kind. You had never been fortunate enough to be part of a world that rose colored and fanciful in the first place, so you knew for certain such things didn't matter... But you could not deny what you were. Pitiless whispers were eager to remind you with every step.

You were a Paladin, because Wisp deemed it so. It was the first the Mana had ever addressed you so specifically, and it was the gift which allowed you unmistakably to recognize others afflicted with its dubious interests.

And to those who didn't suffer Wisp's unceasing expectations, it was a title brimming with recognition and praise for your abilities. The skills, discipline, determination and drive which had kept you afloat. Infuriatingly empty praise, echoing the Mana's voice off their lips. With that one word they put their expectations on you, same as Wisp, and elevated you beyond whatever ground you walked on to something wholly unreasonable.

Because you are a Paladin. An elite among elites, the sole class of individual betitled by a Mana for the accomplishment of continuing to thrive.

You hated that title, but what you hated even more was this sharktoothed man making it sound dirty.

"Heeey, Paladin~ Lookin' pretty lonely out here all by yourself."

"Victor." A heavy scowl drew out your reluctant greeting. "Why are you here?"

"No, no it's Marchovic now." His lips peeled back, taunting you with his Shadestained body; Riddled to the bone under the repulsive Mana's abusive affection. "And you know how it is Emil, oh buddy, oh pal, oh lover of mine. You were in my neck of the woods, so I just had to come hook up!"

The oar crumpled in your hands, audibly snapping grain turned to splinters. "We are none of those things. Now answer me: Why are you here? Why now?"

"Would you believe I was on a date?"

"Victor-"

"Romantic walk in the woods, down by the river, camping under the stars..."

You sigh, letting the broken oar clack against the raft. "I don't have time for you. Leave, you corrosive gremlin."

"I'm serious though?" The Shadestained wretch continued innocently, "You could lose yourself in those crimson eyes.... Oh? I have your attention now?"

"Again. Why is the Shrine working with that disturbed brat?" This wasn't good. It hadn't been good in the first place to run into a literal shadow from your past, but if this wretched man was cooperating with the Valen scion... Your men were in danger. "What happened to staying out of politics, Victor!?"

The gap between you closed in an instant, holding the frustratingly lithe man at your mercy over the gently trickling stream. It would have taken an instant to snap his neck... But each moment you stayed in contact with his cursed body, you felt strength bleeding away. A disgusting violation of your aura - The erosion of Wisp's favor as it brushed against Victor's miasmic husk.

And he had the nerve to smile back at you, perfectly aware of the effect this had on the both of you.

"Jealous?"

"Don't toy with me! I expected this from you, but that ex-royal guard was wrapped up in their pace as well. What is the Shrine playing at!?"

"Oh you'd be mad if I told you who else our little blonde fairy has following them around." Pain blossomed across your chest as your skin split apart along a knife's wake; A weapon small enough to have been hidden. One you should have expected a man like him to have, and flaunt, as he swaggered around the edge of the raft. "It's really nothing that special though, and I'll have you know I am doing my job as Shade Representative, you know?"

"Corrupting people with honeyed words comes natural to people like you." You sneer, willing the wound to close. "I guess I should blame you for the depravity of the Valen scion?"

"Oh I wish." Victor, or Marchovic as he styled himself now, twirled the knife in his hand absently as he spoke... And he would speak at length if you prodded him to. "No, that one's potential has nothing to do with me. It's a thing of beauty though, isn't it?"

"There's nothing beautiful about your forsaken Mana, or the septic ideologies you preach." The wound wasn't closing. It was shallow, and stung, and it should have healed even in your weakened state... But blood continued to flow. It brought a burning feeling to your chest that near compelled you to claw at your own skin.

"You know... Just because Wisp sanitizes you of Shade's touch, doesn't mean you're not crippled."

"And whose fault is that?"

Against anyone else this fight would have been over, but with Shade's acidic shroud forcing you free of Wisp's embrace, neither of you could really be called adepts at this point. Your strength, your speed, your healing and endurance were all stripped away; Reduced to this incredibly menial state. You weren't a Paladin before this man, just another person.

"Yours. Just like what happened to her was her own fault."

And in that moment, like any other person would have, you saw red.

---

You hated being called a Paladin. The things you went through to earn this title weren't memories you wanted to be respected or venerated for. He knew that, and you wished you could have been better strangers with the Shadetouched bastard. At this point maybe your histories were just too closely tangled together to ever really be free from him.

You hated the reminders he brought, the irresponsible freedom he walked with, and the fact that he never once accepted the role he played back then. You hated the smile he wore that reminded you of her, and you hated that the resemblance he bore to another even more.

But you couldn't kill him. She made you promise until the very end, and no matter how many scars you left on each other - No matter how many times you spilled each other's blood - you both knew damn well where you stood.

Crippled, poisoned - Where had that damned man even found a venom like this to lace his knives? - You stumbled through the forest and clawed desperately through your body for Wisp's embrace. For the unceasing whispers of the Mana's expectations. For the power that the title granted. It was muddled, so far away- Fainter than it had been since you could remember. It was blessed release, a reprieve from the constant reminders of what you were.

But your men were in danger. The ones who trusted you to lead them this far, to pull together a life where Victor had left you all to rot.

You needed to be a Paladin right now. You couldn't afford to be just a man. Not now. Not again.

You would scream, stagger through the burning blood as poison pulsed in your veins. It was pure stubborn desperation which granted you tenacious hold on the last vestiges his venom worked to force out of you, and what you would not give to heal yourself of this constant agony... But you needed it for something else.

You knew, from the moment you laid eyes on that noble in the Tier estate, that something revolting squirmed beneath their skin. A human being so absolutely repulsive as to be mistaken for a Shade apparition, you couldn't even begin to imagine how fucked up such a person was. More monster than man, better off killed than left to live and infect the people around them like HE had.

They took you by surprise back then, and you'll admit it was your own fault. You underestimated them, too distracted by the man behind the noble to see the threat for what it was... And you absolutely could not afford to make that mistake again. You would only have one chance to put the Valen brat out of their misery. Artemis had already pledged their support, you were too close to building a way out to falter now.

You had to make it count. If that meant putting up with this burning a while longer, you'd do it. You were all going home. Together.

Wait a little longer prince... You were coming home.