[Fluff]

"We've been walking for hours, can't you pick a damn place for us to rest at?!"

Yet again, the harsh voice of the rebellious Pale Rider echoed out, her aggressive tone highlighting her current mood. Oh, she was furious. She had been furious for a long time at this point, but meeting the Princess had amped up her frustrations. Especially since she started claiming that there had been another world. Who the hell would believe something like that?

Apparently she did. And so did that soldier that had followed behind them. She didn't catch her name, but frankly she should've gotten rid of her the moment she agreed to follow along. Considering what her Queen had done to her friends... And what they had done to this damn place in general, she was more than justified to just get rid of her.

The minion in question, Melly, trembled as she felt the sharp glare from the rebel shooting straight at her. She honestly couldn't believe that the Princess would try and mingle with somebody like her. Was she not aware of her reputation? Or was it precisely because of this reputation that she wanted to parlay with her? It made no sense.

"Please just shut up." The Princess in question, Julia, nearly barked back at her hooded companion. "We're not hiding away inside one of those crypts you adore, Pale Rider. You know that m- The Queen knows what you get up to inside those. We're doing things my way."

"Who died and made you Queen? Besides, do you even know where we can hide if we can't hide inside a crypt?" The foreboding rebel shouted back at the Princess, directing her attention at her and nobody else but her. Which thankfully allowed Melly to breathe a sigh of relief.

Julia closed her eyes. If she had still been back in her old world, she would've tried to invite them to dinner in a simple diner. That would've given them sanctuary, so they could start arguing with one another. Not that she often really responded to Pale Rider, when she was still devoted to Justice...

It's not like they had a lot of options either. They had wandered far out into the outskirts of the Kingdom, passing by as many dangerous locales as possible. So the only options they had at their disposal would revolve around... the peasants.

"Lady Julia, please, we can find somewhere to stay. You don't need to worry, I'll do my very best to find somewhere." Melly insisted. Even though it made the hooded rebel glare back at her, she had to try and be useful. There was a reason why her Lady had picked her. She had to be able to help, she just had to.

Julia softly smiled, before deeply sighing. "I appreciate the thought, Melly. But I know where we can hide. Even if it disgusts me to the core." She muttered, as she looked off the road towards a nearby farm. A farm that seemed to be abandoned at the moment, given a lack of animals grazing around.

This prompted a laugh from Pale Rider. "Really now? You'd hide away in a place like that? That's rich! You'll be the Princess of Pigs by the time we're done, hahaha!" The rebel laughed. It really was something that was too entertaining, too much to pass up on.

Julia's response to her mocking was to walk towards the farm's barn and kick open both doors, shooting a glare towards the hooded rebel. "Inside, Pale Rider. Maybe you'll actually learn to ride something when you look at a horse for long enough."

Pale Rider grit her teeth as she stomped inside, with Melly following behind obediently. All so that Julia could slam the doors shut and keep them nice and hidden away from the world at large, so none of the Queen's soldiers might be able to find them.

"At least you picked a place that doesn't smell like death." Pale Rider commented as she collapsed into a comfortably large haystack, using it as a sort of seat as she crossed her arms. "But you better explain things. Otherwise, I'm going to make sure my scythe's getting fed."

Melly leaned up against one of the pens that would've had a horse or a cow inside, though thankfully there were none around. Really, it was almost eerie how abandoned the farm was. Not that she'd really comment on it. She knew that it was probably all in the Queen's plan... Yeah, it had to be. There's no way that she would want people to feel so downtrodden...

Julia grabbed a simple wooden chair and took a seat close to Melly, all while looking towards her hooded 'companion'. "Down with the hood. I want to look at you. I don't want to look into you." She said, all while softly resting her hands on her knees to appear like she wasn't about to prove herself a threat.

Pale Rider glared as she tugged down the hood, revealing her blonde twintails and her natural tsundere-like gaze. Now that it wasn't hidden away by the darkness of her hood, she actually looked cute. Way beyond cute, even... "Better make taking that off worth my time, Princess. Better spill details about the Queen to make it all worth it."

"I won't be talking about her. At least, not directly." Julia started to explain, clearing her throat. "This world... This world shouldn't exist. It's a fabrication. Born from the last thing the Queen tried to do to me, after we fought to the bitter end. I fought against her with everything I had, and though she managed to knock me down, creating this world was the only way she would truly win against me."

"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit." Pale Rider immediately responded, practically ignoring all of the heartfelt emotion in the Princess' voice. "There's no such thing as another world. The only world we know is the one we stand in. Everything else is just another analogue for what comes after death."

"I... I must admit it's quite hard to believe what you're trying to tell us, Lady Julia." Even Melly had trouble with this revelation. "As far as I can remember, you've been at the Queen's side. Fighting for her sake, even if you've always had this sad look in your eyes. You mean to tell us that you barely even belong in this world, and that all that we remember..."

Julia nodded softly to try and gently guide Melly towards an understanding. Only to clear her throat as she glared towards Pale Rider. "I bet you wear the exact same skull-patterned panties that you wore in my world."

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!" That managed to send Pale Rider over the edge, and at the very same time shock Melly into having the color drain off her face. Neither of them were prepared for this.

"I know because you kept on flashing them every time we fought together! You were always fighting for nothing but the glory of it all and getting more people to watch you, so you did everything in your power to make them watch. And it meant I got to see those panties again and again and again!" Julia shouted back, impulsively slamming her fist into her knee. "You think I like seeing those panties when I'm supposed to be fighting for Justice?!"

Pale Rider twitched and grit her teeth, doing her very best to not just rip her scythe off her back and carve straight into the Princess. "So what if you know what I'm wearing, that doesn't prove that you're from a different world."

"I know what your favorite food is. I know what your favorite sport is. I know that you drew death-themed art as a hobby. And I know you couldn't stand working with me, because you thought that my pursuit of justice was so lame." Julia prattled on and on, trying to make the girl aware of just how wrong this world was. "No, you didn't just call it lame. You insisted that I was wrong because I called your glory-seeking ways wasteful, so you called my justice extra super duper lame."

This caused Pale Rider to pause. "...I'd never say that." She muttered under her breath, all while a soft red shade started to cover her face. She knew that it's exactly what she liked calling the things she really disliked. Not that she had used those words in a while...

"Lady Julia, if... If I may?" Melly started speaking up, prompting the Princess to smile at her for being kind and thoughtful. "What were you like in this other world? Were you just as you are now, staying close to the Queen?"

"You could say that I was close to her. But really, we were just arch enemies. And she took advantage of that bond, turning me into her daughter in this world." Julia explained, clenching her fist as she remembered the humiliation that she had felt upon being turned into this form. As well as her heart beating every time she looked upon her M- the Queen. She didn't want to acknowledge any of the feelings that had been wrongly imparted upon her. Not even for a minute.

"That's great and all, but that's not what she asked." Pale Rider snarked as she spoke up once more. "She asked about you, Princess. Who were you." She wasn't even threatening her any longer. Because she was starting to understand that what she was saying had to be true. Even if she hated hearing it. Even if she hated knowing that the Princess knew more about her than she could've possibly imagined.

Julia chuckled. "I was known as Justice Rider. A heroic figure that aimed to protect the people around me. And even though we clashed often, Pale Rider, you helped me out just as many times. It's why I kept getting beyond frustrated with your antics. You could use your powers and your skill for so much more, and yet you decide to just pursue glory. If you had been a boy, just like I was a man, then perhaps I could've set you straight..."

Silence. And then a scream and a laugh, respectively.

"A-A Man? You were a Man, Lady Julia?" "HAH! YOU, A MAN? NO WONDER YOU ACT LIKE THIS, YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME, JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU WERE!"

Julia really should've seen this coming. And though she slowly stood up and gently ruffled her minion's hair to try and calm her down, she had some choice words to toss right back at Pale Rider. "I don't think I'm better than you, Pale Rider. I think that you're wildly rampaging without a clear goal, and I know that we've been able to fight together before. That's why I wanted to hunt you down, so you don't get killed by the Queen!"

"THAT SURE SOUNDS LIKE A SUPERIORITY COMPLEX TO ME!" Pale Rider shouted as she drew her scythe, spinning as she flashed a violent grin. "YOU THINK YOU CAN BACK THAT UP, OR ARE YOU REALLY JUST A BIG SHAM UNDERNEATH ALL THAT BOASTING?"

Melly trembled as she watched what was happening in front of her. Negotiations had broken down. And not only that, the fact that Julia had once been a man was sending her for a loop. Did... Did that mean... Oh, was that actually important..? She couldn't tell, and the current situation wasn't really giving her a chance to properly process what she had been told.

Julia sighed as she drew her blade. So thin compared to the wild and wicked scythe that she was facing down. "I am not a sham. I am not superior. But if you will not listen to reason, then I will beat it out of you, Pale Rider. You and your childish ways will not be the road forward. If you continue to rebel without a proper cause, then you will just be killed like a dog!"

"KEEP TALKING, THAT'LL DEFINITELY HELP YOU!" Pale Rider shouted with fury burning inside her lungs, as she leapt from her haystack and started swinging that weapon as wildly as she possibly could. She would overwhelm the Princess one way or another, no matter what she would try to do.

And indeed it seemed like she would. Even Julia had difficulty trying to strike against every single one of her slashes. But she was focusing as much as she possibly could. Paying attention to the pattern within the wild abandon. Even when somebody swung as much as possible to try and appear random, there was repetition because their arms would inevitably fall into similar lines when combined with the weight of their weapon.

So even though she had to parry and dodge around several slices, she eventually started to launch her counter attack. Striking again and again and again, knocking the blade off course and slowly working her way back to an advantageous position. One where all she had to do was take a single step forward, and...

Pale Rider grinned, right as she caught the blade between the long pole of her scythe. Or rather, poles. "Gotcha." Her voice dropped an octave as she suddenly split the pole in two, turning the two-headed scythe into a pair of wicked blades. All ready to carve straight into the Princess that had humiliated her like this.

"You never whipped this one out on me whenever we fought back in my world." Julia said, grinning softly as she jumped away. "Then I guess you consider me a better opponent than you did back then."

"Better opponent, or just fucking frustrating. Your pick." Pale Rider's grin widened. She didn't really understand why her heart was beating inside her chest. It wasn't... It wasn't really anger any longer. There was just something about the Princess that was making her heart race like this. She didn't understand, but...

It was making her honestly smile. No matter if she was receiving attacks. No matter if she was the one launching one. Clashing her blades against her was making her smile. This was the first time in a long while that she felt this way. And she wanted it to continue, if she had to be honest. She just wanted it to last forever...

Julia panted a bit as she kept up the offense the best she could. She wasn't doing a great job, but she was certainly trying. That was the most one could expect from a Princess like her, when faced with an opponent that was honestly more experienced. Even though she had the faint memories of her skills from the old world, she was still wet behind the ears when it concerned this blade of hers...

Which resulted in Pale Rider eventually landing the blow that would finish her off. A blow that knocked her sword out of her hands, and left Julia in a position where one false move could result in her head being lopped off her body. One blade pointed at her throat, the other at her neck. Even if it was supposedly impossible to trap somebody with scythes, it seemed like Pale Rider had done it.

"See... See what it's like when you try to focus..?" Julia muttered, the exhaustion of keeping up good defensive measures against an offensive beast like Pale Rider was really taking its toll. And yet she knew that she wasn't about to kill her. Despite what she represented.

Pale Rider rolled her eyes and dropped her scythes to the ground, letting the blades land in the soil. "I won't say I know what it's like. But you definitely aren't completely wrong. So consider that a small victory or something." She snarked like usual, before slowly stretching. "So what do you want, you've convinced me that there's another world, you've convinced me that we were once... allies or whatever, but that doesn't really get you anywhere, does it?"

"I suppose not." Julia said, slowly gasping as she let the relief wash over her. "But with you by my side, we may have a chance to turn all of this around. All we need to do is just find a way to gather allies." She explained, before turning towards Melly. "Melly, I-"

She paused, as Melly had outright collapsed, currently down on her knees as tears ran down her cheeks. She had been mostly quiet since the fight began, especially since she was still busy trying to process what she had heard. But the sight of her Lady being so close to possible death was outright about to break her. She didn't want that. She'd never want something like that. Never in the whole world

"L-Lady Julia..." Melly muttered. It was like the light in her eyes had gone out completely. She hadn't even seen the conclusion to the fight. She had just imagined what it would be. What it would be like to see her head falling to the floor, rolling lifelessly away... She didn't want it. She didn't want to imagine it. But her mind wouldn't let her avoid it. She couldn't stop herself from imagining that cruel fate.

Not until she saw that hand in front of her face. That welcoming hand. Lady Julia's hand, beckoning her to look up at her. Looking up at that pure expression, who wanted nothing more than to see her smile and be safe.

Melly couldn't stop herself from outright sobbing as she saw her face, bawling and crying as much as she could. And Julia let her cry as much as she had to. Because she knew that she deserved to let it all out.

Pale Rider just watched, rolling her eyes. All while her mind dwelled on the facts presented to her. If she really was such a glory seeker in Julia's original world, then no wonder she would clash with her over and over again.

...But it's not like she was the only one that was different. And Julia would realize it at some point.