68. The Madness
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V looked past T, to the double Alices fighting in the air above them. "I would love to help Alice deal with that, but uh... unless one of you can fly suddenly?" He looked at L and T. T shrugged "The fake Champion of Good...or... evil I suppose will probably start to fade away soon. Most of the Mad Champions drastic alterations to reality are temporary." A struggling voice called from a little ways away "I... have.... the... sword..." Luna was dragging L's weapon as fast as she could, V had never seen Luna breathing so heavily before. She must have put all of her effort into retrieving L's blade. L quickly ran over and retrieved the weapon, examining it. Luckily it seemed that the blade was unharmed by being dragged along the cobblestone. Luna looked up at L "I did a good job right?!" Luna tilted her head toward L and stood on her tip toes. A dissatisfied look crossed L's face, but she patted Luna's head nonetheless.

"I actually can’t stay long. "U" might still be in the area. I really should not have even made this appearance." T began to turn back toward the city gate, but V stopped him. "You clearly know more about the Mad Champion than we do. I have run into him two times already, and it might happen again. Besides I cannot even seem to recall the first time very well, anything you can tell me would be appreciated." T hesitated for a few moments "Fine. But only because I’d rather the Mad Champion not get any stronger than it already is." V looked around for a second before turning to L "I'll get what I can from T, but you need to go find Eika. I last saw her over there, she might be dead, but I never found a body." He pointed to the last location he saw Eika. L nodded and sprinted off to fulfill V's command.

T fiddled with the bandana around his eyes for a moment before speaking. "So, first off. The reason you cannot remember much about your first meeting with the Mad Champion. As far as I can figure out, his abilities have such a negative effect on the fabric of reality, that it is difficult for normal physical brains to keep up." T looked at the silvery being, who was still muttering "Recalculating." and gestured at it. "For example, even now, the crafting champion's creation cannot comprehend the subtle changes to reality. We don't notice all of them, but often times our subconscious can. Perhaps that building was blue, but now it’s grey. Perhaps the sky was brighter than it was before. It's hard for our brains to comprehend what is happening, so in this case, they simply don't. Instead as a defensive method, they simply forget or ignore what the Mad Champion caused. Some people's brains are better at it than others. The more disciplined and ridged someone is, the less they can handle it normally." V looked around, it was concerning to think that it was possible that much had changed, but he had not noticed any of it. "Then why can I remember this encounter better?" T nodded "I believe it has to do with expanded names in some way. I do not actually know the specifics, but Champions who had expanded names seem to be capable of dealing with the Mad Champions abilities in a greater capacity." T smiled a bit "Also, even though we can see each other’s statuses at the moment, that will rapidly fade. As will our memories of what we witnessed. Which brings me to another point."

As he looked, V could still see everyone's status. Although, the Mad Champion had gotten angry because supposedly V's status was still hidden. If V remembered correctly, T had some ability that allowed him to see statuses anyway, so perhaps that was why T could see his? V also noted that T spoke the truth, he had already forgotten Alice's status. Or rather, forgotten the aspects that he learned while the Mad Champion was around. T continued as V absorbed his words. "The Mad Champion's changes to reality are inconsistent. For example, if he changed your sword into a hammer, it would stay that way. However, things like the fake Alice, and changes to statuses fade rapidly when no longer influenced by the Mad Champion." T tapped his bandana, "I truly do not know exactly where the line of permanent and temporary changes lies, but I think it has to do with altering the rules of the Gods versus altering the rules of the world. For example, a sword is simply a part of this world, the Gods had little direct influence on its creation or its function. Statuses, fake champions, those are directly created and presumably sustained by the Gods. Also, I know it has something to do with the Mad Champion's attention span..." T trailed off for a moment before continuing. "Which brings me to the next, perhaps some would consider, most important point."

"The Mad Champion's belief is reality. Or to put it another way, whatever the Mad Champion believes to be true, is true." V nodded, he felt like he should maybe be more shocked but at this point, after the last few days of his life, he was too exhausted and desensitized to it all to really be that taken aback. "Does that mean if the Mad Champion believed he had won the game, then he does?" T shrugged "I don't know if it has any functional limit or not. So... maybe. However, I know for a fact that the Mad Champion was tricked into believing that it would be difficult for him to win the game, and that he is too unlucky to get easy kills on Champions. Notice how no one here is dead by the Mad Champions hand? Because he believes it should be difficult for him to kill other Champion's, fate conspires to make that fact true. In a scary revelation, the fact that I arrived in time to stop the Mad Champion from killing you, might have been caused directly by the Mad Champions own ability." V furrowed his brow, what an odd situation. Although, from the faint memories of the alleyway where he first met him, he did remember that the Mad Champion had simply become distracted and left the blue bearded champion groaning on the ground instead of killing him.

V nodded "I'm willing to believe all that so far, so why do-" T cut him off "Yes I knew this question was coming. He fears me primarily because he believes I can "Kill with a glance." He also thinks I am the most evil of all of us, and fears what I might be capable of doing to him." V tilted his head and studied T's bandana "So that means that you CAN kill with a glance? That is why you’re covering your eyes then? I hate to bring this up for obvious reasons, but doesn't that mean you could easily kill the..." V quickly counted "The seven of us here and become way, way more powerful?" T smiled, at first V thought it was merely because he was amused, but he could detect a faint sadness to his expression. "Yes, in theory. However, I wear this bandana to reinforce the idea in the Mad Champions mind, but also because it’s a wildly unpredictable ability. It's not a natural part of me, I have virtually no control over it. It may not target who I wish..." T trailed off for a just a fragment of a moment, but it was a departure from his usual bravado. "Well, to be honest, I fear that I might also actually kill myself by "glancing" at my own hands or feet. I should lose the ability in anywhere from a few moments to a few minutes. However long it takes for the Mad Champion to become distracted from his fear of me."

"The important aspect to the Mad Champions ability to remember is that it is about his beliefs, not desires, although there is of course overlap. Those who face the Mad Champion often find their blessings removed. This stems from his belief that a Champion only holds onto their blessing as long as they deserve it, the Mad Champion somehow came to believe that the God's would not allow someone to wield their power if they did not "deserve" it. If the Mad Champion witnesses something that makes him believe that someone has done something that makes them not "deserve" their blessing, they lose it because he also believes that those who do not deserve it, will not have it." T paused a moment "Also he's insane, so the reasoning behind his beliefs is often inconsistent. Keep in mind as well, there is an extreme difference between believing a house should be blue, and believing it is blue. As far as I can tell, when he only believes something "should" be some way, it does not really have much effect." V nodded, it made sense. Well not really, but it made enough sense.

L scanned the street Eika was supposed to be on. The golden spirits that remained alive had started to rearrange all of the wounded citizens, it seemed as if the spirits believed the danger was over, and were putting things "back to normal." L only hoped that they were correct, she did not fear battle of course, but to be honest she wished that they could have a few days of peace. Morale was important. She looked around, unsure how she was supposed to search for Eika. 

┌——————┐
Locating Royal Family
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Oh right! L had honestly forgotten that the title she received from V allowed her to locate him, or other members of the Royal family. A soft light appeared in her vision, leading her down the street. As she walked, she wondered if simply acquiring the title "Emperor" made V of royal bloodline. There would have, at some point in any royal family’s past, been a point where they were not a royal family. Even though she firmly believed that royal blood was passed down from father to son, mother to daughter, she was not delusional, everyone with royal blood must have once been a common man before rising above their peers. Unless of course the Gods simply created a world in which nations and rulers already existed. L continued to follow the soft light as she pondered, eventually coming to a ruined building. Gripping her sword, she slowly pushed what used to be a door open. She continued to consider, in the case of some preordained world where the royals always existed as royalty, she supposed that meant that the Gods decided if one’s blood was royal or not. Was a title given by a man, but fueled by Godly power the same? Maybe, perhaps V really did now have royal blood in his veins. L made a displeased face as she crept through the house, the light led out the back, through a hole in the wooden walls. If he was a true royal, he was the worst one. The emperor from her old world would not even waste time looking at V much less-. L's thoughts were cut short as she witnessed the scene behind the house. Eika was lying unconscious, fur and blood was everywhere. L knelt down and checked Eika's pulse, still wary of her surroundings. As far as she could tell the blood mostly belonged to the two mousegirl corpses that lay dead next to Eika. A sudden wheezing cough came from a little further on, the creator of the noise was hidden behind a low fence.

L crept forward, she could tell by the sound that it was someone with some form of chest wound, the wet wheezing and coughing was a common sound in the heavily wounded. None the less, she was still cautious. Rounding the end of the fence however, she knew that the individual posed no danger. A dwarven man sat propped up against the fence, a gory hole was torn into his chest cavity on his right side. He held his left hand over it as he weakly looked up at L. "Ah...damn... I don’t..." the man coughed as he struggled to speak. "Don't suppose you'd spare me?" L shook her head. "No, I don't suppose I will. Nothing personal but there is an almost certainty that you came here to cause harm to the wounded." L kicked away a crossbow that the man tried weakly to raise. "I will not make you suffer however, and if you have last words, I will hear them. Dying in an alley is an inglorious end, it is the least I can do for you." The man nodded "Ya... it’s just... the way of things... I guess..." He tried to struggle to his feet. "I... I wana die on my feet, like a man." L shrugged; she did not exactly agree with the sentiment but she understood it. Seeing that the man could not manage to stand on his own, she knelt down to help him. "Th.. thanks. Are you... a champion?" He coughed as L responded "Yes, I suppose you are as well then?" Nodding weakly "Ya... look, thanks for this. Many of us are lunatics. Its... nice to meet... someone... like you...." With L's aid the man stood, leaning heavily on the fence. "To show my thanks, let me... tell you. My blessing ain't gonna.... do you no... good. Unless you like... throwing that sword. I doubt my... class will either. Just take my letter."

L nodded solemnly. She respected this man, and he was right. Many of the champions were insane. It was nice to see someone with a level head. "Anything else? You could surrender to the one I serve you know. We could use a ranged specialist." The dwarf coughed heavily "No, thanks though. I... would... rather die than have to eventually fight... my previous allies..." L respected that as well, if this man had friends or allies among the champions, serving another would inevitably bring them into conflict. "Well. I understand. I’ll make it quick." L gripped her sword as the dwarven man did his best to stand straight. "No stop please!!" A desperate voice gave L pause, and made the dwarf look in surprise as he muttered "No... just get...out..." A mousegirl, who oddly enough looked exactly like the mousegirl twins that were lying dead near Eika had scampered out from a nearby building. She was wounded in a hundred different places, but they all seemed shallow. Though, she was clearly exhausted and doing poorly. "Please don't kill him! You can kill me instead if it makes you happy!" The dwarf tried to wave the mousegirl off, but could barely even manage to lift his arms. "No girl, don't bother... with me." The mousegirl ignored him as L spoke "Why do you beg for him girl? You must know his fate as a Champion." The mousegirl shook her head "I know, we all know! But not everyone wanted to join this game! He saved me when we first got here. I owe him so much, he’s not a bad man."

Raising her eyebrows L scoffed "Not a bad man? He is attacking an infirmary." The mousegirl waved wildly. "Ya so am I! And you’re about to kill a wounded man. What's the difference? We were not going to hurt the normal people! We are all the same, just playthings that are forced to play by the God's rules. We joined the Fire Champion because we thought we could use his blessing to distract everyone while we killed the wounded champions before anyone else!" The dwarf had lost the energy to talk, and was solely focused on standing upright at this point. "We did not want anyone to suffer either! Just let him go please!" L considered, was finding a wounded champion and killing him much different than trying to kill a bunch of wounded champions? Perhaps not, it was of course not by choice that she was drafted into a killing game. She did not really care, but could imagine that there are those who did not wish to be a part of this game of the gods. Luna was an example that sprung to her mind. "I... understand where you are coming from girl, but we will all either die or serve another before this is all over. I cannot let someone who, by your own words even, is being forced to try and kill me and my master eventually." The mousegirl opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to find words to argue with L. "But uh what if... what if we promise to not fight you! We will just avoid each other!" L rolled her eyes, "That is not going to work, what if you two and my master and I end up being the last four champions?" The mousegirl nodded "Ya... right, the last ones... uh... We will surrender then! We don't want to be forced to fight for someone else right? But if we are the last ones, if we give up, we can just end the game, no more fighting!"

L considered, she was unsure if she could trust either of these people really, but in theory if she was telling the truth the mousegirl's suggestion would work. Although, even if they were trustworthy, letting them go risked allowing someone else kill them and take their power. L hesitated for a few moments, if she killed people simply because they might make her life difficult in the future, she would be drawing closer to the way those she despised acted. A dark thought passed through her mind; the lifeless body of the child thrown next to her moments before her death. Her knuckles turned white as her grip tightened on her sword. "This time. I will let you go this time. However, if I see you again, I will kill you. And you will not die with dignity, you will die miserable and broken." A shadow had come over L's face as she spoke. The mousegirl looked surprised, "Thank you so much! I promise we will never trouble you again!" Several unharmed copies of the mousegirl scampered out from various hiding places in the rubble and worked together to gently carry the dwarf away. The wounded one followed them and looked back one last time "Thank you again! I hope you win the game quickly!"

 

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