Schneegestalt
Mirrored on the other side of the bewitched moon, Freudia and Strudel arrived in front of the ruins of what seemed to once be a splendid church.
"Ms. Moon is so round… wonder how Ruu is ever going to rub her…" Strudel started to dream as she stares into the moon that was shut outside of the stained glasses. Freudia walked through huge corridors lined by pillars; grim statues of dragon shaded dark by the moonlight spread themselves sporadically between the pillars, all of them staring at their uninvited visitors. Most of them are lined by dainty dresses of plants.
"…" Freudia was just about to lift her hand when Ruu dashed out in a ball of ephemeral light towards a naked status and ran a hole through it. Blood just started to rush into the carved eyes of the status before the color faded back.
"Ehehe " Ruu giggled as she came flying back towards Freudia.
"That's was unnecessary of you, but let me word my thanks."
Freudia has since long been alerted to the hostility in the air carried in waves by an inharmonious aura of a freezing layer externalized by a burning core. A giant statue of a nameless saint was as if sealed into the wall by the green chains that dominated the ruins; a gloomy omen exuding out of the colorless eyes.
"Are you done wording your thanks?" the aura aggregated in the mid-air and materialized in front of the weakly glowing abyss of the moon filtrating through the pillars, "then pray, for a peaceful death of yourself."
"Freu?"
"Back down, Strudel." Tension returned to Freudia as Eifer suffused the world with her empty glare. There was a depth in her eye, deeper than the moon, but no revelation that gives any allusion to her being, "You said your name is Eifer?"
"Ai-chan?" Strudel wore a confused expression.
"I'll have Tia back." Freudia claimed sternly.
"There is no need for that. You will die here."
"This isn't making any point at all," Freudia brought back her usual line, closing her eyes, "This place could just as well be your graveyard."
"You really think that was my all last time?"
"It doesn't look any different to me either way."
"Rats! I'll tear you apart!"
Digging her hands out of her pocket, the discordant aura around the three suddenly intensified.
"…!?"
"Die, Freudia!" the burning core of the aura rushed out, breaking the outer frozen layer. The plants snuggling to the ruins were instantly materialized into spears of piecing sharpness and were shot off towards Freudia in dozens. Freudia adroitly lifted herself off the ground, half a second after which the ground cracked in the pressure of the spears that had gone amiss.
"Strudel, hide yourself. Fackel!"
"Fool." Eifer lifted herself up the same way Freudia did. In front of her, a vast, seemingly endless corridor was embellished with her weapon.
Eifer hided the pain in her voice as she summoned an explosive amount of her aura in a split second, which Freudia wasn't even able to anticipate given their previous fights. Spears of plants shot out from all direction, and Freudia, instinctively, flew as to dodge the attacks. However, she was surprised to learn that none of the spears were aimed at her; the weapons were simply used in forming a nest around Freudia and jailed her.
Through the crevices of the prison, Freudia could see Eifer, one hand above her head, summoning a bulk of her aura into an energy ball, which has gathered to such a size as to fill the corridor. Eifer seemed to be clenching her teeth, but she didn't give in until the end.
"It's over, Freudia…" Eifer said in a barely audible voice before pointing her pool of energy towards the plant nest.
This summon speed and amount of aura… impossible, not even Tia has attained such power. This is bad…
"SCHNEEKRISTAL!"
As if combatting her own thought, Freudia recited with as much fortitude as she could as Eifer's attack landed on the net. Thousands of snowflakes perished in face of the voluminously vacuum energy orb. Spears of plants were instantly vaporized, which gave Freudia the chance she had been waiting for as she accelerated towards the ground as the heat ripped off on her skin. After so long an excruciating time, Freudia landed on her knees, panting deeply. The remaining energy smashed into the saint's statue that greeted Freudia and Strudel before the battle and pulverized it. A flickering moonlight strayed into the corridor, illuminating, to Freudia's surprise again, countless deep green crystals that solidified out of Eifer's aura.
"How could she be so…"
"Of course," Strudel was floating besides Freudia, to Freudia's oblivion, "because, Ai-chan is Ai-chan."
Before Freudia could catch her breath, Eifer was already over Freudia; her body already weakened much from the use of over-powered attacks, but her unwavering will conquered the unsteadiness that was plaguing her body.
"Ashes to ashes, dusts to dusts."
Der Kampf des Staubsturmes
A hazy sun veiled by flying dusts greeted Pamela on her way back to the church. Vaguely, she sensed two clashing auras somewhere around here earlier in the previous night, but she decided to forget about it. After all, Schwarzkreuz would not lose pride to RosenkreuzStilette.
"What a ridiculous sand storm… as always." Pamela soliloquized to herself in usual habit.
The sand storm only roared louder, carrying more sand into the air with it. Pamela established a barrier using her aura so that her cloth won't be unstained any further by the storm.
"Then why don't you kill it?" a voice shot through the storm followed by an unusually strong gust that nearly blew Pamela away. The storm was instantly clear, revealing a blazing afternoon sun; Pamela has travelled all day without realizing it.
"Schirach… thanks for coming all the way out for me. I have defeated the captain of the RKS."
"Ahaha, that's my little Pamela!"
"I am going to report this to the Pope. Come with me."
"Well, guess I can't do that," Schirach, pulled her glasses away from her face, nonchalantly pulled out a parchment from her cloak, enjoying the confusion that Pamela was shrouded in, "I announce, in the name of the Pope, to all faithful believers; Empire patrician, Pamela Arwig, is the holy traitor of the Church. Given which, she shall be discharged from the mission of Schwarzkreuz and hereby expelled."
"S-say what?" Pamela couldn't believe her ears. Schirach was still smiling; the dagger in her smile struck Pamela for the first time, "those are the words of the Pope, Pamela-chan, I am not allowed to let you into the holy territory of the church. You can go."
"Impudent! Are you making a joke out of me?"
"Ahaha, here's the real stuff," Schirach laughed, holding the parchment in front of her, "this is no joke, you know…" Schirach's voice trailed off in an ominous revelation of her hostility stemming from her deeply rooted fighting desire.
Why? I had been fighting for the Pope all this way… this is surely a trap. Such an unparalleled insult… why am I going through this? Lecht, Rink and Eifer, what are they doing? Why isn't there anybody who is coming to me?
"AHAHAHA!" Pamela was driven out of her train of thought by a series of demented laughs; Pamela must have worded her thoughts out loud, "Being an unpopular girl is so painful, isn't it!"
"Schirach!" Pamela entered her self-defense mode, as if just realizing Schirach's existence.
"How about just giving it up about all that vilification and I-am-still-loved business?" Schirach, throwing the parchment into the wind, began walking towards Pamela, "or are you still thinking that there is no worse tragedies?"
"Silence on you contempt!" anger seized Pamela's mind, "although only for a short period of time, aren't we still comrades who fought together for a common cause!? How could you possibly turn against me so quickly! Know you shame!"
"Huh? For you who don't even know those 'comrades' to talk about camaraderie? Laughtable!"
"…!?"
Schirach is pressing against Pamela now, their faces barely apart. Schirach's night-booze breath struck heavily on Pamela's face as she talked, "Pamela-chan, what do you think of those two little sisters?"
"What do you mean, what?" Pamela's voice dropped below a whisper.
"Rink does not exist!" Schirach's voice hit deep within Pamela.
"Doesn't… exist?"
"Right! She is a fake shadow, and never existed. Actually, both of them never existed! They are their ability, Falschegestalt!" not letting go of such an enjoyment, Schirach continued, "Normal people would have realized that, but I think what normal people do is a bit too hard for a know-nothing milady like you? And what do you know about Eifer?"
Pamela shook her head slowly, as if trying to deny the facts; her expression is nearly teary.
"Huh?" Pamela's question came like a light caress on Schirach's cheek and Schirach lounged back in another berserk of laughs.
"AHAHA! Like I thought, you are that slow! Eifer is a homunculus! If you just throw away all that subjectivity and look into her aura, you will know!"
"Lies…"
Schirach pressed back in, "Can't you see already? There has never been such a thing as the morale of the Schwarzkreuz! It won't matter if we have a captain or not. And therefore, there is such a case where we just go about our usual way when our accessory captain goes missing. Do you get it? My little Pamela-chan?"
Pamela was shaking uncontrollably. Schirach pulled her in and lined her own lips as if savoring the scent of a prey, then, lightly, licked Pamela's cheek, intentionally let her saliva stay.
Pamela fell on the floor, teeth clenched, "Why… why should I be put through all of this!? I am Pamela of the noble Arwig family…"
"How pitiful. And this is how the miserable Pamela-chan got expelled and alienated by her faithful family, eventually becoming a loner!"
The figure of Schirach seemed unreachably tall. However, an unknown fire blazed out inside of Pamela.
"SCHIRACH!"
A crimson aura flew up from the ground and wrapped around Pamela, forcing Schirach to jump back, her huge hammer in hand.
"O~mine!" one corner of Schirach's lips curved up as she attempted all she could to hide the joy that was detonating inside of her.
In a split of a second, Pamela darted towards Schirach, Weiβsilber protruding. Schirach lounged backwards again; the "blade" of Weiβsilber cut right through her body. In mid-air, Schirach flipped herself backwards as an angry flash of sword pressure flew right past her and landed back on her feet.
Just then, an image Pamela rushed down from above while another dashed up from behind. Schirach, with a violent swing of her hammer above her, dissipated the figure of Pamela from above and quickly turned around to block the attack from the real person.
The moment she blocked the vertical slash, Pamela disappeared again. Schirach could hear that the air was being slashed around her and instantly judged the direction of Pamela's attacks. Holding her hammer firm, Schirach rampaged forward in a zigzag line while brandishing her weapon. The ground around her exploded almost the moment she left, sending mists of sands into the air.
Bursting out of the dirt, Pamela aimed right at the back of Schirach, who turned around with such craze that she started a sand storm right behind her, consuming Pamela. Seizing her chance, Schirach jumped in front of Pamela and brought a devastating horizontal swing of her hammer that drove Pamela into the ground, sending up another veil of dirt.
"Ahaha, this is so fun!" Schirach swung her hammer again to clear the dirt, revealing a deep hole in the ground, "but the world is not going to change if you are this weak!"
The roar of wind drifted into silence. Objects around sank into oblivion.
"…!?"
Schirach turned back immediately and barely blocked the crimson flame burn from Pamela's Weiβsilber as the aura that Pamela used to generate a clone of herself floated up from the hole and added to the power of the attack. Schirach had the hammer pressed onto her wrist but wasn't in a position to turn. Soon, the hammer succumbed under Pamela's pressure and flew off, landing Schirach on the ground, her neck centimeters away from the tip of Pamela' blade. The silence around the two maintained itself for a seemingly very long moment before Pamela withdrew Weiβsilber, breaking the chasm of time.
Letting out a sigh, Schirach said nonchalantly, "Here, here, what's wrong? One step further and you could have had my neck."
A teary blush showed on Pamela's cheek, "I've had enough… being manipulated around. You simply wanted to fight me; all those insult-like remarks were simply traps to get me, am I wrong?"
"Hummm… didn't you just become more mature, at least more poised than I thought."
"Schirach, don't you know who vilified me, given your insights, and that person's goal?" Pamela's expression softened in her plea, "please, tell me!"
Standing up, Schirach smacked the dirt off her cloak and placed one hand on Pamela's head in a coaxing manner, "Here, here, how could you back off at this point in time? The powders of fire that you spread, you shall extinguish yourself. You have the power to fight; not the power bestowed by the pride of the family, but the power to be used for the sake of Schwarzkreuz earned by yourself."
Pamela's expression slowly started to clear up. Schirach smiled again; this time, there wasn't any dagger in her expression.
"Right… if I can't prove using my own power, then I fail as the captain of the Schwarzkreuz. Just like you said…" Pamela backed off from Schirach, "Watch me, Schirach! I shall clear this up using my own power, and I will have everyone acknowledge me, Pamela Arwig!"
The sun seemed to be setting again behind the sandy clouds as Pamela regained herself.
All I planned was to preach like they always do, somehow she is so consented with it… holy mine Pamela-chan is so frickin' cute!
As Schirach indulged herself in her daytime reverie, Pamela noticed the aura of a different nature.
"Who's there, show yourself!"
"Y-yes!" a trembling voice came from behind. Pamela turned around and saw Lecht followed by Rink.
"Y-you two?"
"Man, you are loud!" Rink complained.
"What are you doing here?"
"That… you see…"
"To expel you from this land of course!"
The heavy armor fell back on Pamela again and Rink continued, "but as we watched you fought Schirach, we figured that we couldn't really be of any help."
Pamela faced the two twins; they were both looking back with a defensive nature. Pamela let go of a sigh.
Calm down, Pamela
…
"Lecht, Rink, and you too, Schirach," Pamela's voice came out calmer than she expected, "I won't give up on Schwarzkreuz. I will also strive to earn your trust. One day, can you all come back with me again?"
…
"One day, we, too, will be abandoned by the church. We know that much..." Rink said after a period of heavy silence.
"… but… going against the church on our part… was simply unimaginable…" Lecht picked up, "please give us time to consider, and we pray for your success in appealing your case."
"Alright…" Pamela said calmly. Something in the eyes of the Refractias as if erased the disappointment that she expected. Turning towards Schirach, Pamela was just about to say something when she was cut off;
"Ahahaha, as long as I can get entertained like I was today then of course~ Pamela-chan!" Schirach said in her jokingly manner, "We can even take it one step further and get married if you want to. How many children you want, Pamela-chan?"
"W-who's going to marry you, you fighting lunatic!" Pamela blushed badly at Schirach's joke, falling right into her trap, "I didn't know you had interests like that, shame on you!"
"AHAHAHA!" Schirach burst out laughing again, "Pamela-chan, you are so cute you know that? And you are so fun to play around with-haha!"
"H-how dare you play with me like that!" Pamela's embarrassment turned into an anger of shame.
Schirach finished her laughs and looked back up at Pamela, "Well, well put all the jokes aside, do your best in bringing around the miracle. I look forward the promising fights that you will bring me!"
With that, Schirach left with Lecht and Rink.
"Schirach, Lecht, Rink…" Pamela murmured in the desert. The requiem of the wind resounded around her and she looked into the distance, at her own palace that stood tall among the rest of the world.
"Eifer, wait for me…"
Ontologie
"Finally, this will mark the end."
Eifer murmured coldly; blatant hostility oozed out from all over her being.
"I'll return you to dusts!" pointing her hand at Freudia, spears of plant rushed in almost instantly and pierced Freudia to the ground.
"Tsk!" the figure of Freudia soon deformed into a pile of snow as ice began to climb up the chain of plants. In a split of a second, the freezing magic bloomed into an icy flower of icicles, across which Eifer jumped, "Won't let you get away!"
With Freudia escaping in front of her, Eifer engaged in a deathly chase among the intertwining pillars, which seemed to shrink closely together in the dazzling speed of the two. Freudia was holding her left shoulder, a taint of red emerging from underneath her hand. Then, in a twist of her body, Freudia turned herself backward facing Eifer and spread a handful of glowing ruby particles, which bloomed into scarlet flowers of icicle in Eifer's way.
Dodging through the edges into the starry roof, Eifer didn't lose sight of her prey, "Won't let you get away, Eiferstachel!"
"Freudenstachel!" turning her back to the moon, Freudia shot back at Eifer. The two waves of aura conjured a blazing bullet hell in the midair, detonating in a fiery roar.
Landing themselves on the roof of the giant ruin of the church, Freudia let out a breath. "Your spears won't reach here easily, will it?"
"Don't you underestimate me!" in a burst of aura, the green weapons wriggling beneath the roof jutted out and shut Freudia off from Eifer's sight, spilling a pool of blood to the side.
"Take that, bug." Freudia jumped up from the Eifer's jail of plants; the injury on her left shoulder started to tear apart again while her right arm was drenched in blood.
"Freu, you are alright?" Strudel was flying besides Freudia.
"Give it up!" from below the roof, tentacles of plants flew up and caught Freudia on her right wrist, making her bleed more violently. Crucifying Freudia in midair, Eifer lifted herself right in front of Freudia, "I've been waiting for this moment, Freudia. What a perfect ending for you, don't you think?"
"Eifer…" Freudia managed a whisper, barely looking up at Eifer. The ominous aura of Eifer started to gather again in a similar manner like earlier and soon taking the shape of a giant ball of energy, "I'll send you on your way with all my strength."
Under the moon, the silhouette of Freudia disappeared in darkness.
Landing herself on the roof, Eifer nearly had to find a support to prevent herself from falling to her knees.
"Finally, I..."
Eifer's train of thought screeched to a halt; the freezing aura didn't disappear from the air, but rather started to gather around her. A layer of ice deposited on the roof, freezing Eifer's plants in an icy coffin.
"I-impossible!" tracing the source of aura, Eifer located the jail of plants that first shut Freudia off on the top of the roof. Soon, ice climbed onto the jail and shattered it into broken ice chunks. Freudia, her left shoulder nearly healed and right arm intact, stood behind it.
"Freudenzwinger!"
Forming a pyramid around Eifer, Freudia as if let down a shroud of snow around her opponent as Eifer's aura shrank, embalmed in the cold.
"It's your loss."
"A snow clone? Rats!" Eifer cursed into the ground as she sank down to her knees, "this body… is falling apart…"
Standing over Eifer, like she was before, Freudia murmured more to herself than to anyone else, "Eifer, what in the world are you…"
"Born from nothing… and will eventually return to nothing… but I must… finish you off…" in seemingly great pain, Eifer breathed out the sporadic words that barely made any sense.
"What are you even saying?"
Ashes to ashes… dusts to dusts…
Eifer let those last words linger in the air as her body dissipated into the emerald crystalline aura which soon spread in the sky. Freudia stood watching, as Strudel caught up with her from behind.
"Strudel, you did well this time. Were there any injuries?"
"Nope, Ruu is just fine what about Freu?"
"Looks like I will have a take a rest…" Freudia said as she laid her eyes closed; her aura significantly weakened, to the point of disappearance, "By the way, did you say something about Eifer?"
"Oh, Ai-chan, is a homunculus "
Der Erbe
Pamela's legs were filled with lead shots. She dragged herself across the desert while panting heavily. The heat waves of the day ebbed and gave Pamela a cool relief as she arrived in front of her own palace, which towered over the entire flat desert.
The same crimson carpet greeted Pamela as she re-entered her home. Statues of silvery knight armors lined the two sides of the carpets, axes in hands.
"…"
Followed by a sound of thunder, axes of one of the armors fell on the ground along with the severed wrist armor. Pamela, Weiβsilber in hand, didn't even have her breathing interrupted.
"Looks like I am really branded, aren't I?"
As Pamela was letting out a sigh, the palace was already filled with maids; there were no color in the eyes of any of them as they also greeted simultaneously,
Welcome back… here we go… please excuse me…
Pamela's heart was filled with such a hollowness as the spacious room filled with such puny resistances that wouldn't even realize the lifespan they have left; the crimson sunset was like a piece of art work performed in place of a requiem.
The same requiem followed Pamela as she reached the top of her palace; the roof was buffed up by a round of four pillars, allowing the whole room to be soaked in crimson.
"More chasers from the church?" Pamela's voice resonated in her hall, reaching to the figure on the other side of the room. The figure was dressed in a dark red turtleneck with a cloak hanging from his neck. A tiny piece of blue jewelry was worn on his forehead while a yellow piece of diamond was embedded in the center of his dark red pants, from which a whip hanged. Much of his muscles were exposed.
"No, you are not, you are RKS." Eyeing the whip that the man already pulled into his hands in a self-defense manner, "that whip, I have heard words about it. You are the heir of the late Count Sepperin, name is, if I am not mistaken, Kahl Palesch, the brother of Liebea Palesch."
Pamela coerced her nerve to tighten belligerently again, "Phrase it, what's your goal in roaming around here?" similar to how Kahl used his whip as a defense, Pamela placed her hand on Weiβsilber in an offensive manner, "hmph, although it is quite a surprise that you are still remaining as a member of the RKS after being thrown into the jail by Count Sepperin in the Walpurgisnacht."
The defensive air disappeared from around Kahl, "To me who didn't have anything, the Count not only gave me power and knowledge but also let me call him father. There is no wavering in my faith to the Count."
Kahl's atmosphere shift seemed like a surprise to Pamela, but she didn't let it show. There was only one consoling to her lead-heavy body; "that's quite something to say. But will you be able to run away from me, given that your magic power is even weaker than your sister?"
Pulling her sword out, Pamela was ready to dash towards Kahl, "if you are not going to word your purpose, then I will force it out of you!"
"Although I don't want to be conspicuous, I can't be caught here. Here goes!"
The two clashed heads-on before Pamela anticipated.
This guy… is fast!
"Take this!" Kahl as if flew past Pamela and brought his whip around from behind Pamela. Pamela judged the direction of the attack from the sound that the whip made as if tore through the air and jumped up right besides the whip. Twirling her aura into a vortex, Pamela sent a wave attack aiming right at Kahl.
To her surprise, Kahl didn't dodge but rather dashed right through it with clenched teeth towards Pamela.
"What!?"
Kahl flung another attack at Pamela, which struck hard on Weiβsilber. When she landed on the floor, Pamela realized that her attacks were sealed by the whip. Pamela attempted quickly to break herself out of the lock with a quick jerk, which Kahl put down with force.
"T-this muscle-head!"
"It's true that you have power in you, but power is the only thing you have. This way, your collapse is determined, even if I am not the one to bring about that." Pulling out his axe, Kahl ensured that Pamela is locked in place and dashed towards her.
The blade of axe came relentlessly towards its prey and screeched to a halt in the mid-air; the blade ate away at an orange barrier that ran a monochromic rainbow across Pamela's watery eyes.
"Don't make me say this so many times," Pamela said on the embarrassing verge of tears, "I won't lose to you RKS!" shards of sword pressure flew out from Pamela's blade and instantly pulverized Kahl's whip. Then, bringing the length of her blade along her shoulder, Pamela pointed the tip of her sword at Kahl while crimson energy swirled in as a vortex.
"Kahl Palesch, take this!"
Wording her ultimatum, Pamela charged forward without waiting for a response. Weiβsilber struck right onto the face of Kahl's axe and pushed him back. With a slight twist of his wrist again, Kahl threw himself out of the way while the axe flew off in two pieces. The tip of Pamela's sword drilled through one of the four pillars supporting the huge roof.
Swinging her sword off to the side and dispersing the mist of dust she made, Pamela summoned her last strength into one last attack aimed deathly at Kahl, "This time…" Pamela's sound started trembling while her view blurred a little.
"You!" Kahl, to Pamela's surprise, dashed towards her. For only a few seconds, Pamela was unable to judge the distance between herself and Kahl, forcing her to close her eyes. When she reopened her eyes, the aura that Pamela gathered with great effort dispersed, refilling her body with heaviness as she realizes that the roof of her palace was collapsing on the pillar that she destroyed and falling towards her.
Unable to move, Pamela involuntarily fell to the ground, unable to make a sound.
"Darkness!"
Pamela's eyes remained closed for a few seconds as sound of rumbling and explosion broke out around her. Pieces of rocks bombarded her head while something warm splattered on her face.
After a moment of silence, Pamela dared to open her eyes again. After rubbing the face with her hand, she realized that her hand had been tainted red. Looking up, she saw a huge figure standing in front of her, covered in dust. A stream of blood floated down his right arm, dripping onto the floor.
Kahl turned towards Pamela, although the defensive nature in his eyes didn't manifest in his posture. Pamela lowered her head; slowly lifting her blade, she stabbed Kahl in the stomach with as much strength as she could manage but Kahl stopped her final struggle with just two fingers.
"…can't you just fall already…"
"…"
"Why… WHY!? You RKS! Why are you all like this! Are you patronizing me? Why should I ever go through this, why me of all people…" Pamela controlled herself; she was choking but she didn't let any tear fall, "you… muscle-head…"
She didn't realize my purpose for being here? Meaning she didn't know that Liebea was captured by the church… then I could expect no new information out of her…
Pamela's emotional mess gave Kahl enough time to reason his way through.
"But regardless," Pamela stood up, slightly blushing but trembling badly, "if your purpose was to assassinate the pope, I can't let you…!"
Before Pamela could finish her talk, Kahl pushed her lightly on the shoulder and Pamela fell flat on the floor with a stifled moan.
"Captain of Schwarzkreuz, what is it that you are fighting for?" Kahl stood in front of Pamela while applying an algae-colored anointment to his wound from a small dainty porcelain container, "your comrade? A cause? Risking one's life in something that one doesn't even see clearly is pitiful."
The bleeding on Kahl's shoulder stopped. Bending down, Kahl laid down the anointment on the ground in front of Pamela and stood back up, "being exiled now, you don't want to do anything too conspicuous on the land of the church, do you? Then I will retreat here."
"H-hey, stop!" Pamela wanted to burst herself forward but suddenly lose strength in her body and fell face-down. When she opened her eyes again, Kahl's anointment stood lonely in her sight. Reaching her hand towards the tiny container and grabbing it, a tiny stream of warmth floated into her hand.
Spending that much strength, he shouldn't be able to assassinate the pope anymore…
…
Even though not being trusted, he still fought to fulfill his responsibility…
"Kahl… Palesch…"
Pamela's eyes closed and snuggled against herself. In the light of the sunset, the figure of a lost girl as if adorned the earthly mess suspending in the scarlet heaven.
Vampir Mond
Once upon a time there was a White King. The king had many faithful knights, followers and a wealthy kingdom.
The king was beloved by all the people in his reign but there were two exceptions. One is the twin brother of the king. He was often judged in his brother's standards, to the point that he sometimes doubted his own existence. The other one was a Red Devil who was dispatched by the King's sole enemy to bring ruins to the land of the White King and its people…
Freudia Neuwahl… never thought that she is already here… magic has not yet recovered…
"I shall have you out of my way!" Freudia said solemnly as an ice sheet spread itself out on the marble ground of the grandiose church. The ice shone brightly golden, making Pamela cover her eyes in reflex.
"Ah! Ms. Captain again." Strudel said nonchalantly, "But Freu, are you OK using that much power? The healing is not done yet…"
"No, it was quite enough, thank you." Freudia whispered to Strudel, not losing sight of her enemy. The ocean blue piece of jewel dangling on Strudel's neck gleamed sapphire with Freudia's magic.
"You seriously think I will let you pass!" Pamela, drawing her sword in defense, said.
"You are in no state to fight, get out of the way."
"Silence! I am the daughter of the prideful Arwig family! I shall never admit defeat to a traitor like you!" Pamela's voice carried the dagger that she couldn't carry otherwise.
"Freudia is right. You are of no more use, Pamela"
Pamela wasn't aware of the source of the voice; when she turned around, the blur of a bundle of green spears rushed towards her and struck on Weiβsilber. Pamela was caught in surprise and instantly pushed back.
"…!?" A weak wave of aura gathered into the air and Eifer showed herself in front of Freudia and Pamela.
"Wa!?" Strudel exclaimed as Freudia stared defensively ahead of her.
"E-eifer… why…?"
"All preparations are done. There is no more need for the Witch Hunt." Eifer said without a trace of emotion, "there is no more point in the Schwarzkreuz." Staring into Pamela's eyes, a mask of malice covered Eifer's face, "and you, rat! Thanks to you everything has gone off!"
"Eifer…" the images from Schirach's fight filled Pamela brain, "I will go to the pope and have the vilification cleared up. But it's too much a pity to lose you." Extending her hands towards Eifer, Pamela continued, "I don't know who's the one that made you a homunculus, but repent, and come back to me! That power of yours, use it for the correct purpose!"
"You realized my true form? How annoying…!" Eifer hissed.
"No, it wasn't me, but Schirach. I was careless and didn't know enough about the Schwarzkreuz. But I will change that." Sincerity filled Pamela's eyes as she stared into those of Eifer's, "Eifer, I wish you to fight alongside of me again!"
"What a stupid woman. Just who were you wanting to see again?" acidity pumped into Eifer's tone, "the real pope has been dead since long. The one you know was nothing but a homunculus."
Pamela's eyes widened as a fearful swear traced down her cheek, "s-say what…?"
"Mr. Pope is dead?" Strudel murmured to Freudia besides Pamela.
"The pope is just in the room ahead of this. Go ahead and investigate his aura, you should be able to tell quite well. The pope is nothing but a puppet for God. Bow and listen well to the words of my master, the True God."
Eifer stepped aside while an overwhelming source of aura conjured into the air and a seraphic figure emerged from the light. The figure was tiny and cloaked in red and black dress; a bloody tiara was embedded into the hair of the seraph.
"… Iris!" Freudia worded with hostility while Strudel floated besides her.
"Greetings to you all!" Iris laughed with a smirk, "and nice to meet you, Ms. Pamela I am the ruling God of this world, Iris Sepperin "
"Iris Sepperin? The lost daughter of the Count Sepperin?"
"Ms. Pamela, you brought me quite a surprise; the mission only intended to be a show, you actually carried it out and defeated the RKS!"
She's the one behind all of this…!? Only a child? But what is with this aura of hers…
Rearranging her thoughts a little, Pamela's biggest worries suddenly rushed into her brain, "Answer me, Iris! Are you the one making and manipulating the fake pope and Eifer?"
"That's correct. And Schwarzkreuz especially, you had done quite well, I shall praise you "
"And my exile…" anger started to boil in Pamela's brain.
"Yes," Iris giggled darkly, "after your RKS feat, I simply wanted to see how you would react to such a sudden plight your face, filled with desperation, ruggedness and weakness while masked with anger… was just so enjoyable "
"How dare you…" Pamela's aura boiled beyond crimson, "how dare you play with me and the pride of the Schwarzkreuz!"
"Pride? Don't make me laugh! What value do you think there is in the position and honors given by a pope puppet?" Iris words stabbed Pamela's body like needles, "this whole protector of the empire and the church game with you Schwarzkreuz… I feel the embarrassment as an audience for you "
Turning slightly towards Eifer, Pamela intentionally let her hair cover her teary eyes, "Eifer… those days of us fighting together… were those all fake?"
"Boring." Eifer concluded simply, "I am simply obeying the orders of my master."
After a moment of silence, Pamela lifted her arm to her face and wiped off the tears with a fling of her arm, "what a pity. And, how pitiful."
"Say what?"
"Although you have the form of a human, you are after all nothing but a homunculus!" Pamela yelled to Eifer, "Not having any subjectivity and simply obeying, you are just a doll without pride!"
"SHUT UP!" Eifer lifted one of her hands to her head, "I am not just a doll! I-I am myself!"
"IRIS!" Pamela didn't listen and charged her aura into her sword, "the threat to the empire and the church, begone!"
"Pamela, stop!" Freudia shouted behind Pamela who already dashed out towards Iris. The seraph gave a dark laugh; her eyes gleamed red like a vampire. A flash of lightning blazed out from the wings of the seraph and consumed Pamela in the light.
A lines, two lines, three lines…
Pamela's arms shook. The lightning struck at the blade of Weiβsilber as cracks lined its body.
"Lies…"
After a crystalline scream, Weiβsilber shattered and shards of its blades were blew off, engraved into Pamela's body.
Pamela, too, flew back; her mouth was open, but her scream was mute. A bed of snow engulfed Pamela and eased her to the ground.
"And now," Iris's image resurfaced after the lightning submerged, "may I ask a useless witch like you to resign?"
"A… w-witch?" Pamela murmured into nothingness on the floor.
"And you, Ms. Freudia! It was quite a show for me to enjoy; a frozen witch coming to rescue her abducted friend, sometimes even fighting against her own comrades? What an impressive friendship "
Freudia was alerted, "How did you know that?"
"Of course," Eifer hissed again, obviously trying to forget Pamela's thorny words, "we had been spying on you. That's why we prepared that fairy right there."
Freudia turned towards Strudel, her expression frozen as always. "Freu, sorry."
"But there is no more point in spying. Come back, Strudel." Eifer ordered coldly while Iris laughed just as darkly.
"…"
"Ruu…" Strudel shook her head after a long silence, "Ruu, changed her mind. Because, Freu is so kind, Ruu wants to become Freu's real friend "
A wave of overwhelming aura flew out from Iris the moment Strudel finished her words; her sapphire hair flew backwards as if in a flight. But Strudel, in that situation, still maintained her smile in face of the threats.
"Bug, are you out of your mind?" Eifer cursed darkly.
"Well, well " Iris opened her mouth and Eifer shut herself off, "I am quite generous. So I will let a bug do whatever it wants." Turning her eyes towards Freudia, Iris's laugh is filled with daggers, "Ms. Freudia, I will go prepare a splendid stage for you, but again… will you be able to reach it?"
"…!?"
A huge magic platform emerged from underneath Iris and glowed ominously. A few sparks of bloody flew out from it while a figure appeared from the ground; silvery hair and dark cloak with emptily bloody eye sockets.
"Count!?" Freudia's voice was filled with disbelief.
Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter… Protect my daughter…
"Freshly brainwashed for you, please don't hold back for the sake of your life, Ms. Freudia "
"Iris… you are not a human after all, are you?" Freudia's breath was freezing; ice climbed through the ceiling, as if swallowing the whole hall.
Iris giggled darkly again, "then, I will wait for you at the stage." Iris and Eifer teleported out of the hall, leaving behind the giant platform on which Count Sepperin stood. The count's figure was mostly restored, however, blood started to ooze out from all over his body almost the moment when restoration completed. The count's figure wriggled around, as if groaning, and then, painfully, roared into the empty space of the hall,
"GRANT US POWER!"
A jet black mist flew out of the figure of the count. And mist gathered in quantity and soon towered over Freudia flying in the midair. As if responding to the cry, the day turned dark and a bloody moon rose outside of the hall.
"Strudel, back down." Freudia said. Strudel, flying besides Freudia, let on an expression of surprise.
A huge head of monster extended out of the dark mist; a huge fleshy scar still engraved in the back of its head like a dark wriggling maggot. The monster bellowed painfully; its scream shook the entire hall.
"Count, please forgive me."
Waving her hand in a crescent arc in front of her, tens of magic platform followed the freezing aura the Freudia spread into the air and aimed themselves at the messy mist.
"Eislanze!"
The White King had a sole, single enemy. She was once a high official in the kingdom; the love people gave her was unparalleled except by the King. But eventually she betrayed her people for power. After her first coup d'état failed due to the effort of a certain person, she left the kingdom and became a mystery.
However, the capricious and evil nature in her plot never stopped haunting the people of the kingdom, and the King himself. Her name thus became the taboo in the land; the people referred to her as the Fallen Angel…
"Freu… angry?" Strudel's arms dangled down from her shoulders, her head lowered a little so that she didn't have to look right into Freudia's frozen eyes. There was no anxiety in her voice but she seemed quite plagued by the lack of it.
"Not really." Freudia closed her eyes, shutting herself off from the legacies of the count, "you would probably have been killed anyway if you were to go back."
The wings of Strudel glowed transparently blue; a profound color soaked the fairy laces engraved in the wing; snow dusts effused out off into an atmosphere of pale light around Strudel.
"Listen up, Strudel," Freudia opened her eyes and looked right into Strudel, "friends are never to betray each other. Can you promise me that?"
Snow started to fall from the top of the endless pillars. A tiny snowflake floated over top of Strudel's head as she cupped her hands for it. The icy crystal softly landed in Strudel's palms like a piece of frozen tear shed by a shut soul.
But, the tear will never melt… Ruu looked right back at Freu's eyes, "Yes, Ruu, promise "
The sphere of light surrounding Ruu dissolved into Freu's aura, "Then, we are friends from now on." In place of the snow that was beyond melting, a smile thawed over Freu's expression, "nice to meet you, Ruu."
"Yeah, yeah Ruu became real friend of Freu "
"What a fussing child."
… the White King also had a lot of friends, but two stood out to him especially.
One is a childhood friend of the King. Not born into a family of nobility, he was forbidden from seeing his old friend and walked quite a different path than the King. He was the one who stopped the Fallen Angel's plot and saved his people. King never stopped to look up to his friend… and shed tears for the distance between them.
The other one was a child ruined and abandoned by the Fallen Angel; an innocent, happy child…
Weiβsilber (preview)
One day, the Red Devil was sent to kingdom of the White King, told to bring ruins to the land. The Red Devil went confidently.
Soon, he arrived at his first victim near a suburb village in the land; an elderly grandma who was walking with stick and a huge basket of wood chips on her bent back.
Haha, it's your last, woman! Be prepared to die! The red devil told the grandma relentlessly. Mine, mine, young man. I am always prepared to be taken by God. But before that, I was told to treat others nicely by God. How about it? Want to have a bowl of soup at my house? Although it's a quite shabby place. The grandma replied the Red Devil. The grandma was blind.
The red devil stayed at the grandma's house for a night. The next day, the grandma took the devil to the town of the King for shopping. The devil was among all the people for the whole day.
However, the devil didn't kill anyone for the whole day…