It all started on a calm morning in the port of Hargeon. As she was wandering along the docks Esperia couldn't help but ponder about what the day would bring, the pleasant wind breeze that was blowing inland from the sea was making it perfect weather to visit the beach, but for some reason, Esperia had felt like something was off. As if she was about to be hit by a bout of deja vu and then it truly came.

"Help! Please send help!" Esperia heard an unfamiliar voice call for help from the direction of the beach, and calmly approaching the one calling for aid the young woman's gaze drifted to the man: soaked to the bone and judging from his clothes a merchant of sorts. Although she hesitated to ask, her curiosity ended up getting the better of her. "What is going on sir?"

The question of Esperia beckoned the attention of the merchant to her almost immediately, to the point it almost felt disturbing how quickly he saw her as a beacon of hope, as if he had been looking for someone to save the day. "Pirates miss! there are pirates at the beach and they been kidnapping people!"

Wait... Pirates? Again?! Esperia couldn't help but groan audibly at the mentioning of the pirates. How many times now had she dealt with pirates? In fact it seemed like they were appearing as fast as bunnies could breed! "Fine, please go and alert the guard that they tell everyone to stay clear of the beach."

Of course the merchant hesitatingly asked her a question that in hindsight should have been obvious already. "But what about the kidnapped citizen?" Esperia's lips curved up in a smile as she hummed softly, sensing a subtle stirring from the bandaged weapon on her back. "By the time I'm back at the port everyone will be home again and the pirates gone~"

After she had reassured the merchant that she'd be alright on her own Esperia slowly made her toward the beach, feeling that same pulse coming from her staff as she grumbled under her breath. "Patience, you'll feed soon enough."

And yet it seemed that she wouldn't have to wait much longer, for shortly after she reached the furthest reaches of the beach several armed men, no doubt pirates were dragging various crates toward the cove that was hidden up ahead. She really had to admit those pirates needed some originality, but at the same time she was also growing more agitated, and slowly pulled away the bandages around her staff. "Fine, you claim to be so great? Show me a sample of your power Morrigan~" Channeling her mana through her staff Esperia could feel something, something different than the usual sensation she felt when she casted a spell. This time it felt like her mana was shifting, changing in its very nature as her nature magic took another form: fire.

A large ball of fire was launched like a cannonball toward the group of pirates, detonating in a small blast that knocked them off their feet, but she was still far from done. With a sweeping motion of her staff the sand underneath them started to shift and change, water starting to surge upwards and pulling them in like quicksand, and then like a finishing touch, she slammed her staff downwards, a bolt of lightning crashing onto the watery pool and electrocuting the fools. Slowly she approached their lifeless bodies, noticing how there were small purple lights, like fireflies coming from their bodies and being sucked into the staff as Esperia muttered softly. "Well~ well~ Colored me impressed~ But our work isn't done yet." No, the majority of the pirates would likely be further ahead in the cove...

What was it that was driving her? Was it her anger toward pirates? Her desire to help the people who were kidnapped? She didn't know and in all honesty it started to frustrate her. Even as she arrived at the cove, unlike usually Esperia had not chosen to take a covert approach. There was simply no need for it. Indeed, even as a group of pirates had visibly rounded up the kidnapped people in a corner of the cove, and another group was eagerly looking at a heap of treasure that they were counting among their spoils, Esperia felt neither the need or want to hide.

Was it attention? Did she want the pirates to see her, to fear her approach? Even as Morrigan's ceaseless whispering continued Esperia nonchalantly descended into the cove, her lips curved into a playful smile.

The first of the pirates to notice her were a pair of men at the entrance to the hideout, yet as they drew their weapons Esperia idly swayed her staff into the air as a collective of sword-shaped projectiles, each of them formed from razor-sharp wind element were hovering above her. Even as the pirates hesitatingly stepped back, all it took was a slight nudge of her staff forward to send the torrent of swords after the pirates, eight of them impaling each of the pirates to the point calling them a pin cushion might had been a cute way to describe them as their bodies fell lifelessly on the ground.

Indeed, stopping between the two corpses, as Esperia felt the essence of the fallen being drained by her staff an oddly invigorating feeling coursed through her being. There was something about tasting their essence that made her long for more, not just because Morrigan was trying to tempt her to do so. No, it was because she desired it herself.

It was odd: despite the fact that she was essentially slaughtering a group of pirates, Esperia's smile didn't waver. It wasn't simply because they were scum that deserved it, but Morrigan's whispers started to make Esperia think.

Even just now, the way that merchant looked at her, as if expecting she was obligated to go and help the kidnapped citizen. It was frustrating, always she was seen as the girl who tried to help others without expecting anything in return. Never did someone take a moment to ask her: what do you want Esperia? Nobody cared for her needs and wants, her desires and longings. No, ever since Fia disappeared that was a privilege she could not enjoy.

What did others ever do for her? Liana had shoved her to the side because of her obsession with Alisa. Fia had disappeared and Alisa... Alisa had gone off on a honeymoon adventure with her new wife, leaving Esperia to feel jealous and frustrated, to think the unconquerable queen she admired so much had been conquered so quickly. Blue Pegasus had steadily become less of a home and more just a crowd of strangers. She hated it, she hated how everyone expected things from her, but never took the time to ask her how she felt, what she wanted!

"STOP LOOKING AT ME AS IF I'M A FUCKING HERO!"

Esperia screamed in anger as Morrigan's staff got slammed into the sand, a swirling vortex of elements raging around her as the kidnapped victims started to flee back toward Hargeon in a panic. Her breathing had grown faster, her eyes tearing up in anger and frustration.

"Heroes only exist in fairy tales..."

A light shake of her head followed as she attempted to vanquish the thoughts of bitter frustration from her mind, and while she was slowly calming down, she noticed something: the constant nagging and whispers were ceasing.

It took her a moment to realize that a shimmering presence, akin to a phantom or ghost had emerged beside her, and surprisingly enough it was not Asmodeus. No, it was a young woman, a beautiful young sorceress who looked at her, the look in her eyes being one of pity.

"It is frustrating, isn't it?" For a moment Esperia's eyes widened in surprise, while it was a voice she recognized as sounding eerily similar to the one that been whispering from the staff, she couldn't help but ask hesitatingly. "Are you..." The woman nodded her head lightly, a faint smile on her lips. "Morrigan, or rather: Who I was a long time ago. It seems your feelings rekindled some distant memories in me."

Esperia shook her head lightly, groaning audibly. "First Asmodeus, now you... At this rate people might really start thinking that I'm becoming a lunatic." The snide remark Esperia made earned a soft chuckle by Morrigan who shrugged her shoulders lightly.

"Does it matter what they think? All this time they been expecting things of us, we constantly were being pulled into helping others but not once did someone ask what we wanted, what we desired. It was always our job to fulfill their desires and needs, to ease their suffering. But what about ours?"

Esperia's gaze shifted away, finding it unpleasant how easily Morrigan was stating what Esperia had been thinking. "Isn't it enough? We been heroes for far too long, we have no more fight left to give, no more life left to live... Let us start living for ourselves."

The words resonated within Esperia who looked at Morrigan and repeated her words softly. "Start living for ourselves..."

Slowly the phantom approached her, a hand gently extended toward her as she asked:

"What do you want to do Esperia?"

What did she want? It was a question that came surprisingly difficult for Esperia who never had someone ask her about her own needs and desires. Thinking a bit further on it, if there was one thing she desired, then in a way one could say that she desired to be free, to truly be freed of this oppressive feeling. But was such a thing even possible? She didn't know, she was even terrified to think of such an answer, for it was quite likely that she would be told it was simply an impossible feat to accomplish. However, curiously enough it seemed Morrigan had an answer of her own:

"Do not be afraid to reach out Esperia, the first step to your freedom would be to acknowledge you desire to be free."

To become free, she had to acknowledge that desire? Wait... desire... It was all starting to sound so much simpler now she thought about it, and in a way she was glad to have finally figured it out.

"I want to start chasing my own desires, but is such a thing even possible Asmodeus?"

Her words caused the Demon Lord to shift into existence at her other side, the Demon Lord of Lust gently tapping her cheek with the palm of her hand as she mused softly. "It's not impossible~ You see, with Morrigan's power you could drain my essence and use it to empower yourself. You'd essentially become a demon in a way. But I can't say for sure what the end result would be."

Morrigan nodded her head slightly in affirmation as she added. "It is something we could research, I have a hidden library in the Sieghart Mountains, we should be able to find out more about how you can gain Asmodeus her power there~"

To obtain Asmodeus her power... But didn't that mean she would essentially have to leave Hargeon and... Blue Pegasus behind? "Having second thoughts Esperia?" Noticing the worry on her face Morrigan called out to her, but Esperia merely shook her head. "I'll think of a way to go there. Perhaps I can sell this treasure we have here to try to book a transport to the mountains."

It seemed like a plausible idea, to sell the treasure and start her journey from it. But first there was something she needed- no, something she wanted to do before she would undertake this journey.

It was perhaps a childish thing, some might even call it naive and cowardly, but to her it was a necessary something. Before her departure she would likely do what she should have done a long time ago, to write Alisa a letter and to tell her how she truly felt about everything that had unfolded in the past.

A soft sigh escaped her lips as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "Guess we'll go back to Hargeon for now. Asmodeus, I'm going to need your help with writing a letter."