The villains of the tale

After finishing breakfast, someone knocks on the door, and a familiar voice echoes throughout.

(Johan) LEON, it's me, open the door!!!!

Irma goes to open the door, and Johan comes running in, followed shortly after by Eris.

(Johan) Leon, I'm glad you're finally coming to the capital, I have many places to show you....

Johan's smile fades, when he realizes that Aisha was also in the room.

(Johan) What's she doing here?

(Aisha) Oh, wasn't I invited?

(Johan) No, you weren't invited, I'm telling you to leave.

(Aisha) But that's not for you to decide, and when I heard that Leo, my fiancé, was coming to the capital, I wanted to come with him.

(Camille) Fia... Fiancée??!!

Everyone was surprised when Camille raised her voice, which helped Johan to notice her.

(Johan) Who are you?

(Camille) Fi... Fiancée...

For some unknown reason, Camille was quite affected by the news that Aisha was my fiancée, so I couldn't answer her.

(Irma) I apologize young Johansen, this is Camille, she's the daughter of my younger sister, due to certain circumstances I have to take care of her, and thanks to the kindness of young Lazaruz, I was able to bring her on this trip.

Irma monotonously repeated the story about Camille's identity, but we had no opportunity to tell her about it, for better or worse, it was fortunate that she was in shock at the news of my engagement.

(Camille) engaged....

That explanation seems to be enough for Johan, so his attention went back to Aisha and their eternal rivalry.

(Johan) I'm going to show Leon the city, and you can't come.

(Aisha) Oh, really? That sounds like fun, Mrs. Eris, can I come with you?

(Johan) No, you can't.

(Eris) Of course honey.

(Johan) Mom!

(Eris) Johan, honey, you must learn to treat the ladies better.

(Johan) But she's not a lady, she's mean when nobody sees her, why doesn't anybody believe me?

Just to clarify, all of us present were aware of Aisha's antics, but I didn't care as long as she didn't do anything really dangerous, and Eris for some reason seems to think that deep down Johan is also having fun and doesn't see evil in Aisha's antics, besides Aisha herself knows well her limits of what we can tolerate, leaving poor Johan fighting a losing battle.

(Leonora) You two can't get along?

(Johan) But Leon, you don't know her, it's very different when you are not present.

(Leonora) I know Aisha can be too much.... Aisha, but she only bothers you because you listen to her, if you ignore her she'll get bored and leave you alone.

(Aisha) but I want us to get along, you are my fiancé's best friend, and as his fiancée, it is my duty to get along with my future husband's friends.

Johan turned red with anger, it was not only Aisha's mocking and cajoling tone, but also the fact that he really resents my engagement, just mentioning it makes him furious, that's why Aisha says the word fiancé so much in front of him.

(Leonora) Stop fighting, Johan, I will go with you to see the city, and Aisha will come with us, and for her part Aisha promises to behave. Understood?

(Johan) Okay.

(Aisha) No problem, my fiancé.

(Leonora) Aisha ....

(Aisha) All right, all right, I'll behave myself.

(Leonora) By the way, Camille, you're coming with us too, I promised that....

When I looked at Camille, she was staring blankly into the void, and her face was blank, as if her brain had crashed.

(Leonora) Eh, Camille, are you okay?

(Camille) Fiancée...

(Leonora) Eh, this Irma, could you take care of Camille for a moment while she... recovers... Then catch up with us.

(Irma) as you command young master.

Irma took Camille back to her room, while she was looking for an excuse to give Johan about Camille's behavior, but he was more aware of his fight with Aisha than to notice it.

(Leonora) ah well, let's go to the carriage.

(Johan) Very well, come on Leon, there are many places I want to show you.

Johan left the room and Aisha followed him, I was still worried about Camille, so I stayed behind for a moment, I really have no idea what could have happened to her, I don't think it's just because of my engagement, there must be something else.

(Eris) Leonora honey, do you have a moment?

(Leonora) What do you want Eris?

(Eris) Honey, I don't know what plans you have for your little sister, and I know you may not be able to tell her the truth right now but.... Don't you think you should fix the misunderstanding before it gets any bigger?

(Leonora) What misunderstanding?

(Eris) You really don't realize?

(Leonora) Realize what?

(Eris) Leonora, honey, haven't you ever read romance novels for teenagers?

(Leonora) Eris, if you want to tell me something tell me up front, I don't like it when people beat around the bush.

(Eris) Gods...

Eris put her hand on her forehead and started to think, really, I'm never able to understand this woman when she talks in circles.

(Eris) you know honey, I think I'd rather see how long it takes you to figure things out.

(Leonora) do whatever you want Eris.

----------------------

We find ourselves on top of the walls that divide the two sectors of the capital, this is a strange sight, on one side you can see opulence, tall buildings firmly built, clean and tidy streets, luxurious horse-drawn carriages, elegant people walking calmly through a safe and orderly place.

And just turning around, the panorama changes completely, hunger, pestilence, misery, violence, fear, are things that are the order of the day, the streets are crowded with people and beasts that walk alike without seeming to have any destination, the buildings despite being technically newer than those of the interior sector, are in a worse state and many seem to be about to collapse crushing all its occupants, People walk hunched over, without spirit or ambition, totally resigned to the life they have to live, and only occasionally, one or the other looks in the direction of the walls that divide the two sectors, and for a moment they dare to imagine what a better life would be like, only to return to their miserable and desolate life.

Who are the people responsible for all this? There are really too many people to name, but if we had to say who constantly ignores the pleas of the people, if we had to say, who constantly neglects their job of looking out for the people, if we had to say, who has the power to change all this and doesn't care, if we had to point the finger and declare a culprit, that someone is standing right next to me.

To recap, we are at the top of the walls that divide the two sectors, this is the best place to see the city, so Johan is pointing out buildings and giving a small description of them, but both Aisha and I are more interested in the other sector of the city.

Aisha approached Johan and pointed out a small yellow-roofed building with practically nothing else in particular.

(Aisha) hmm, tell me Johan, what building is that?

(Johan) that's the Farole company's hair ribbon store, the Farole's have many stores dedicated to beauty and personal care.

This time Aisha turns around and points to the tallest building in the outer sector of the capital.

(Aisha) And what is that building?

At the question, Johan went blank, not knowing what to answer.

(Johan) This is... I.... I don't know.

(Aisha) oh! I thought you said you knew all the buildings in the capital.

Johan got nervous, and gave a little look to his mother.

(Johan) they won't let me go to the outer sector of the capital.

Eris took a step forward, standing between Aisha and Johan.

(Eris) Honey, there is nothing there that could be interesting.

(Aisha) hmm.

Aisha walked a little while observing the outside area, while Johan became more and more nervous.

(Aisha) I find it interesting, it's at least curious that there is such a marked difference just a few meters away.

(Eris) those people chose to live there, they decided to settle in the outskirts of the capital, and now they demand to be treated like the rest of the citizens of Karris, when they have done nothing to earn it.

(Aisha) Yes, maybe you are right, wanting a better life is a crime that should be punished.

(Eris) if they wanted a better life there are many ways to achieve it, but they chose the easiest one, to settle in front of the city and demand. Or are you one of those people who think we should reward their stupidity?

The atmosphere became more and more tense as these two faced each other, it is something that to some extent is predestined, after all, in the sequel these two end up facing each other.

The revolution that I talked about when I was Leonora is something that was going to happen anyway, I just advanced the process and gave it more structure.

Aisha in the first game is just a secondary character who is a suspect in the crimes, but she takes on more prominence in the sequel, when she is the leader of the anarchists.

It is strange that a person like Aisha actually has so much empathy with people, at first I thought she only hated order because she preferred chaos, but that is not true, she hates order because it is imposed by the nobles she hates so much, she really wants to change the world to make it a better place, but unfortunately she doesn't have much idea of how to achieve it.

Aisha is just an anarchist, a romantic who dreams of a better world, and believes that the only way to achieve it is by crushing the current one, but the problem starts there, she has no idea what to do next, the current system as horrible as it is works, and just tearing it down will not solve anything, she has no idea how the people will get their livelihood if she shuts down the crop fields controlled by the nobles, she has no idea how she will transport goods around the kingdom if she destroys the roads, she has no idea how we will defend ourselves from a possible invasion from one of the neighboring countries if she disarms the army.

It's obvious that a revolution led by such a person is destined to fail.

That's why me and Aisha are such good friends, after all we're both villains, and we were both right, but we didn't know well what we were doing and that's why we failed, it's something regrettable if you think about it, but not as regrettable as taking a story as good as Aisha's and her revolution, packing it in the first 5 hours of the game, just to kill her and continue as if nothing had happened.

Seriously, I have no idea what the Dev's were thinking.

Anyway, as Leonora I can't be that close to Aisha, so we communicate through letters, and yes I help her in her revolution, and if you think that I only use her for my purposes, well you are wrong, our goal in the end is the same, to change the world, even though maybe the church is not responsible for everything bad, it's an obstacle for me, and taking into account that I am the one who will create a better world, any obstacle of mine, is an obstacle for Aisha, because, for a reason that I don't completely understand, she trusts me.

And now these two future rivals are face to face, on one side Aisha who wants change, and on the other Eris, who also hates nobles, but she hates more the idea of people changing their destiny.

Eris sighs, and smiles, returning to her cheerful and childish tone.

(Eris) Things are more complicated than you can imagine, but if you'll let me help you, I could...

Eris approached us, but even though she wasn't there for a moment, when we realized, Irma was behind us, so Eris stepped back slightly.

For her we are just little girls who do not represent a real danger to her, just a couple of lost sheep, who know nothing about life and we need her guidance to get our full potential, but Irma is a danger.

If she weren't with us, her methods to get us to be on her side would be more... Effective.

(Irma) young master, little Camille is already feeling better, so I join you in this journey.

(Eris) oh little Camille, I couldn't introduce myself the first time, I'm Eris, nice to meet you honey.

(Camille) ah, yes... nice to meet you ma'am, but... wasn't I at the castle? and then… and... umm… where are we?

Camille,was looking from one side to the other completely confused about where she was, it was obvious that Irma brought her dragged when she felt the danger that Eris represented.

(Leonora) You'll get used to it Camille, anyway, I'm bored of being here, Johan, what other place do you recommend us to visit?

Johan, who had practically hidden to escape from the tension generated by these two, jumped like a spring when he heard me say his name.

(Johan) From here you can't see it, but we could go to the monument of the heroes, or the fortress of the founders, after that we could go to eat at the Medallion, it is the best restaurant in the whole capital.

(Aisha) we already ate there yesterday, so I preferred to eat somewhere else so as not to repeat.

(Johan) b-but... but how? It's very difficult to get a reservation there, or did you already have a reservation?

This time it was Camille who raised her voice and answered.

(Camille) It was Mr. Leon who got the reservation, he is someone very important, and very important people don't have time to make reservations.

(Johan) woah! Leon, you always impress me, you are my best friend for a reason.

Both Johan and Camille, looked at me with great respect in their eyes.

Well, I knew the manager in a past life, and I know he was fired for being bribed in the reservations, but they don't need to know that either.