The Guardian of Trauma

The silence in the cavern was as dense as the tar they had just left behind, but it was not an oppressive absence of sound, but rather a peaceful pause...

(Tap... tap... tap...)

In that place, Shija's steps, small and hesitant, echoed against the veined marble floor while he felt his three-year-old body weighing as if it were made of lead.

"This place... is different..."

He leaned heavily on the shoulder of the doll, whose rag hands held him firmly without glancing at him.

".... Yes... That's right..."

She, who shortly before laughed with maniacal madness in her medusa form, now walked in absolute silence, her button eyes fixed on the walls of the grotto.

(... Tap... Tap...)

As they moved forward, the warm light of the floating torches revealed that the stone was not bare.

(That is...)

In certain sections of the wall, the white rock had been profaned —or perhaps consecrated— with deep engravings that had been filled with a dark, thick, red substance.

(Blood...?)

It was blood, but a kind that refused to dry, shining with a supernatural freshness under the flickering fire.

(Ssshhhh-vummm!)

The first mural Shija beheld showed the silhouette of a knight with a billowing cape raising a sword against a dragon.

(Tap... Tap... Tap... Tap...)

But unlike Shija, who took a moment to contemplate, the doll did not stop, continuing her silent pace after giving the mural a slight glance.

"...."

Her eyes did not blink, scanning every stroke of the crimson pigment with an intensity that Shija could not decipher as they moved forward.

(That scene is...)

Further ahead, they found a section where the cave ceiling opened into a natural dome, revealing the image of a small fairy's birth.

"Flora?"

The image detailed a floral bud opening into red stone petals, and from within, a winged creature emerged with a sleepy expression upon opening its eyes.

"Are they... memories?"

Upon observing the scene, Shija remembered the small fairy that accompanied both Mireya and Melioris, who according to both of them had been born recently...

"....."

In response to Shija's questions, however, the doll only remained silent, focusing her attention on the next symbol without saying a single word.

"?"

There, carved into a central column that supported the weight of the mountain, was the image of a serpent with perfect scales devouring its own tail.

(Thump-dum... thump-dum...)

The blood filling the symbol pulsed rhythmically, matching the heartbeat Shija had heard upon crossing the threshold.

(... Something... is wrong...)

However, Shija noticed that the circle was not perfect...

(A crack...?)

The symbol was fractured in the center, as if something —or someone— had tried to break the eternal cycle of return.

"....."

Upon seeing this, the rag doll leaned forward slightly, halting her pace in front of the serpent.

"Let's move on..."

Only after a prolonged silence, observing without moving, did the doll look away and resume her pace, leaving the bloody murals behind to face what lay beyond the oak and silver doors that could now be seen at the end of the tunnel...

"Is this it?"

And finally, upon arriving, Shija asked as the air in the antechamber turned frigid—not like the cold of winter, but like the void that remains when a life is extinguished.

"Yes... This is it..."

Shija, still leaning on his companion's shoulder, felt the energetic pressure in the cavern shift drastically.

"Can you fight...?"

Upon arriving, the doll, whose gaze had been lost in the murals of blood, took a step forward with a mechanical solemnity.

"... Yes... I can still fight..."

In response, Shija, despite his state, pulled away, leaning against a mural, reserving his strength and ready to continue...

"Then here I go... I am she who has no name."

To which the doll began to recite with a multitonal voice that seemed to come from every crack in the cave at the same time:

"I am the seed that sleeps under the weight of denial, and the first to sprout when the world loses its song."

As the words resonated, an unnatural phenomenon occurred.

(FSHHHHHHHHHH-ZAP!!!)

The warm fire of the floating torches, which previously bathed the marble in golden tones, began to contort.

"Cast off the mask! Reveal yourself, first guardian of trauma!"

The color fled from the flames, turning into an absolute black that emitted no light, but rather devoured it.

"Let the shadow be the lighthouse and the light be the sword."

The cavern plunged into a negative gloom where only Shija's emerald tattoos and the doll's own silhouette remained visible.

(SHHHHH-RRRR-IIIII!!!)

The wind began to blow from inside the doors, but it carried no scent other than that of iron.

"Open the path that time has attempted to hide..."

The doll extended her small rag hand toward the center of the oak and silver doors.

(CREEEEEEE-AAAA-CK!!!)

Causing a slow, heavy, and agonizing screech, as if the metal itself were complaining for being awakened from its lethargy, the doors began to open.

".... For she who is not, has finally come to reclaim."

There were no visible hinges; the oak leaves seemed to yield to the authority of the chant, revealing a slit of absolute darkness that gradually widened.

{... The path is ready...}

Thus, the doll's voice became a soft mental whisper once more, but one laden with an implicit warning.

(¡¡CLANG... CLANG... CLANG...!!)

In turn, from the newly opened threshold, a dense and purplish miasma began to seep out, crawling across the marble floor like a living creature seeking to claim the territory.

(THIS PRESENCE IS...!!)

Shija, despite his infant body, felt a pressure in the air that only elite warriors emanate: a bloodlust so pure that the atmosphere in the room turned completely heavy in a heartbeat.

"Back!!"

Such a reaction caused Shija to scream in tandem with his instincts...

(¡¡¡SHHHH-RRRR-ACK!!!)

But at the same time, in the blink of an eye, a blade of black metal crossed the air with a speed that defied its weight.

{Here it comes!}

The doll, in an instinctive and feline reaction, leaped backward, pulling away just in time.

(BOOOOM!!!)

As a result, the spot where she had stood seconds before was struck by a vertical slash that generated a burst of dark energy, cracking the marble and kicking up a cloud of dust and diamond shards.

{Welcome...}

In that way, from within the curtain of miasma and dust, the figure emerged.

(¡¡... CLANG... CLANG...!!)

Its steps were slow, metallic, and laden with the weight of a mountain.

{Shadow of Silver... No... rather... the residues of the Valkyrie.}

Pushing its way forward, a full plate armor was revealed, of a black so deep it seemed to absorb the light from the cavern's black torches.

(What pressure!!)

Its presence was such that the air had become suffocating as Shija evaluated it.

{This is the first time we meet...}

The armor was composed of metal engraved with runes that oozed a crimson light, similar to the blood of the murals.

{... But unfortunately.}

Every piece of the armor—from the sabatons that crushed the ground to the serrated bracers—was designed with aggressive, sharp angles.

{It will also be our last meeting.}

The helmet of the armor was a massive piece with a cross-shaped visor, from which a spectral and frigid glow emanated instead of eyes. From its shoulders sprang a cape made of tattered shadows that billowed without any wind, as if woven from pure laments...

{So... In this place, here and now...}

In his left hand, he carried a tower shield, a colossus of black iron reinforced with rivets from which thick, black tar flowed, while in his right hand, he wielded a serrated bastard sword, its blade dripping with that same pitch.

{Could you let us pass?}

And before such a being, the small doll, without looking away, cordially asked...

(¡¡¡CLANG!!!)

Only for the knight to strike his sword against the shield in response, causing a sound that resonated like a funeral bell throughout the cavern.

{... Of course, it would be a no.}

Immediately after, the black armor pointed directly at the intruders.

(SLASH!!)

Immediately, without wasting a single second, with a sharp and precise flick of its wrist, it unleashed a horizontal slash that tore through the air.

(VROOOOOOO-SHHHHT!!!)

The result was a gust of dark energy, sharp as a guillotine, flying directly toward Shija’s neck.

"!!"

In response, his eyes glowing with an incandescent green, Shija did not back down.

"Hah!"

Concentrating a massive amount of energy into the edge of his small, soft hand, Shija threw a palm strike into the void.

(CLASH-KRA-KOOOM!!!)

Releasing a blade of compressed Qi from his fingers that took the shape of a crescent moon, it collided head-on with the knight's attack. They neutralized each other in the center of the room, generating a shockwave that made the black torches flicker.

{Then we shall carve our path!!}

Taking advantage of the distraction from the impact, the doll moved with a gravity-defying agility. Using the flow of her dress like fabric wings, she leaped toward the cave ceiling, hooking herself onto the light-dripping stalactites.

(SNAP-SNAP!!!)

Immediately after, with surprising strength, she tore off two tips of glowing stone and threw them in parallel toward the knight's helmet while using the momentum to maintain a safe distance.

(WHIII-WHIII-PUM!!!)

But with a minimal movement of his left arm, he interposed his tower shield, blocking the impacts without recoiling...

(FSSSSSSSSSSSSHHH!!!)

And thus, enveloping both sword and shield in black flames that began to erupt, the conflict truly began.