[Two hours after meeting Theresa]
[Sacrifice]: Can you stop following me? It's starting to creep me out.
Theresa blinked before letting out a small, apologetic smile.
[Theresa]: Sorry... It's just...
She hesitated for a moment, searching for the right words.
[Theresa]: Seeing you outside the dream feels... strange.
A quiet laugh escaped her.
[Theresa]: I never imagined we'd actually meet.
Sacrifice looked at her for a brief moment before answering.
A small pause.
[Sacrifice]: That's the closest word I could find as well.
Her gaze drifted toward the path ahead.
[Sacrifice]: Meeting someone you've only ever seen in a dream...
A beat.
[Sacrifice]: It doesn't feel real, does it?
Theresa smiled softly.
She shook her head gently.
[Theresa]: I'm just... amazed by your Arts.
Her pink eyes lingered on Sacrifice for a moment.
[Theresa]: Your ability to heal... to transfer wounds onto yourself... even the way everyone around you recovers faster simply by being near you...
A small pause.
[Theresa]: I watched a man regrow an entire arm in only two hours.
She lowered her gaze briefly.
[Theresa]: But what astonishes me the most...
Another pause.
[Theresa]: ...is your body's ability to absorb Originium.
Her expression grew thoughtful.
[Theresa]: I can feel the Originium crystals within my own body slowly responding to your presence...
A faint breath escaped her.
[Theresa]: It's almost as though they're trying to reach you.
Sacrifice watched Theresa for a moment, her gaze lingering on the soft pink of her eyes before returning to the road ahead.
[Sacrifice]: Why are we going back to the Scar Market?
Theresa folded her hands behind her back as they walked.
[Theresa]: I was originally supposed to meet Theresis there today.
A small pause.
[Theresa]: We needed to discuss reports about a strange Wendigo...
Her smile widened ever so slightly.
[Theresa]: ...and a suspected Diablo.
She glanced toward the group walking some distance ahead.
Protector was quietly speaking with several Babel mercenaries, while the others listened with varying degrees of confusion.
Theresa chuckled softly.
[Theresa]: It seems those reports were more accurate than either of us expected.
[Sacrifice]: Does seeing one of those two kinds of people really surprising?
[Theresa]: Wendigos are nearly extinct.
Her gaze shifted toward Protector before returning to Sacrifice.
[Theresa]: And as for the Diαblos... they've been considered extinct for a very long time.
A gentle smile touched her lips.
[Theresa]: Yet somehow, I'm walking beside a living, breathing one.
Sacrifice was silent for a moment.
Then she stopped walking.
[Sacrifice]: ...Make it quick.
Theresa blinked.
Sacrifice calmly pointed to the left side of her chest.
[Sacrifice]: The heart is here.
A small pause.
[Sacrifice]: Two quick stabs should be enough.
Her finger moved to her neck.
[Sacrifice]: If you want to be absolutely certain, cut off the head afterward.
Theresa stared at her.
[Theresa]:...Why are you telling me this?
[Sacrifice]: Because there are usually only two reasons someone goes looking for another person in the middle of a battlefield.
A beat.
[Sacrifice]: They want to kill them...
Another pause.
[Sacrifice]: ...or court them.
She looked Theresa up and down with complete seriousness.
[Sacrifice]: And I'm not interested in women.
For the first time since they met—
Theresa looked genuinely flustered.
A faint blush crept onto her cheeks.
She shook her head quickly.
[Theresa]: No, no—that's not what I meant at all.
A small, embarrassed laugh escaped her.
[Theresa]: I simply wanted to meet you.
Her expression softened again, warm and sincere.
[Theresa]: Someone with your kindness... someone willing to save strangers in the middle of a war...
She looked toward the Babel camp in the distance.
[Theresa]: I thought...
A brief pause.
[Theresa]: ...if you were willing, perhaps you could join Babel.
Her smile returned.
Gentle.
Hopeful.
[Theresa]: Not because you're a Diαblo.
A beat.
Her eyes met Sacrifice's.
[Theresa]: But because you're the kind of person this world needs more of.
Sacrifice stood in silence, studying Theresa's face for several long seconds.
Then she spoke in the same flat tone as before.
[Sacrifice]: ...That's a third reason.
Theresa tilted her head.
[Sacrifice]: Looking for someone because you genuinely want their help.
A small pause.
[Sacrifice]: I didn't consider that possibility...
Her gaze drifted toward the road ahead.
[Sacrifice]: ...because I forgot it existed.
Theresa's gentle smile faded.
[Theresa]: Is it really that difficult... to believe someone could simply want to help?
Sacrifice was quiet for a long moment.
A beat.
[Sacrifice]: Just... unfamiliar.
Another pause.
Her voice remained even.
[Sacrifice]: Most wanted either my skills... or my life.
She looked at Theresa.
[Sacrifice]: You're the first person I've met in a very long time who's asked for neither.
Theresa's expression softened.
A small smile appeared on her face.
[Theresa]: I hope I won't be the last.
The silence between them felt lighter than before.
After a few more steps, Theresa spoke again.
[Theresa]: May I ask you something?
[Sacrifice]: Of course.
[Theresa]: Is "Sacrifice" truly your name?
Sacrifice Nodded.
Theresa lowered her gaze slightly.
[Theresa]: I see...
She walked quietly for a while before speaking again.
[Theresa]: Then... would you allow me to give you another name?
Sacrifice looked at her, puzzled.
[Theresa]: Not to replace the one you've chosen.
A gentle smile appeared on her face.
[Theresa]: But because every time I say "Sacrifice," it feels as though I'm calling you by a wound instead of a person.
A long silence followed.
Sacrifice considered her words carefully.
Then she nodded once.
[Sacrifice]: That's acceptable.
A small pause.
[Sacrifice]: I joined Babel today.
She looked ahead.
[Sacrifice]: If the King of Kazdel wishes to call me by another name...
A beat.
[Sacrifice]: ...then I have no objection.
Several Babel mercenaries who happened to be walking nearby instinctively slowed their pace.
One discreetly leaned toward another.
A third pretended to adjust his equipment while listening.
Not far away, W was loudly biting into a completely raw potato.
Crunch.
Crunch.
She hadn't looked in their direction even once.
Which somehow made it even more obvious she was listening.
Theresa noticed none of it.
She simply thought for a moment.
Then her eyes brightened.
Sacrifice repeated it quietly.
Theresa nodded.
[Theresa]: Abertha, It means "bright."
[One lore note
In official Arknights lore, there is no canonical Sarkaz language dictionary defining "Abertha."]
A gentle breeze stirred her long hair.
[Theresa]: No matter how much suffering you've endured...
Her warm pink eyes met Sacrifice's.
[Theresa]: ...I don't think a life devoted to saving others should be remembered only by pain.
A faint smile touched her lips.
[Theresa]: I'd rather call you by the light you bring to people.
Silence lingered between them.
Then, for the first time since joining Babel—
Sacrifice smiled.
It was small.
Almost imperceptible.
But it was there.
[Sacrifice]: ...Thank you.
Behind them—
CRUNCH.
W snapped the raw potato clean in half with her teeth.
One of the nearby mercenaries quietly whispered,
[Mercenary]: ...Should someone check on W?
Another shook his head without hesitation.
[Mercenary]: Absolutely not.
[Special Scholar note]
[I will be adding those at the end of some chapters.]
[The Scholar can see countless futures.
In some, the Scholar burns kingdoms.
In others, he saves them.
He has become a devil.
He has become a saint.
He has fulfilled every Great Oath.
He has broken every Great Oath.
But Fate has never granted him a different ending.
Every road eventually leads him to the same place.
Hell waits for the Scholar in every timeline.]
[Chapter end]