It had been only three months since Wilhelmina had made her oath as a Flame Haze when she met the Flame of Heaven.
Tiamat hadn't said a word in a few days so Wilhelmina had been left alone with her thoughts. She was on the trail of what she thought felt like the Rinne of a Tomogara for the last day or so but wasn't making much progress with it. The pathetic little town she had wandered into had been dubbed Dead Town by its own residents. Looking around, Wilhelmina saw how they came by that name. Nothing in the town seemed to thrive. Several homes she walked by seemed devoid of anything except dirt and weeds, if anything at all. From what she had heard there seemed to be hard times all over this odd country called "Japan". Her old home country of France had probably never even heard of this place. It was quaint in her eyes. The tea shop she sat in, although very unlively, was hospitable. The old couple who catered her were courteous even though they did seem to be taking the current malady rather hard.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on her surroundings, feeling for any sense of that Rinne she caught a glimpse of the night before. Nothing. She sighed and finished her tea and those odd little dumplings she ordered. She made a mental note to find another place that served them. They were quite delicious. She rose from her seat and muttered quietly "Shall we go?" but waited for no response. She was learning the respect Tiamat's quiet demeanor. As much as possible she tried to mimic her but it was so very frustrating not talking. Sometimes she felt she would forget her voice from lack of talking! So as the months dragged on she learned to interact with Tiamat on a more narrative level, rather than conversational.
All that day Wilhelmina wandered around Dead Town unseen by its remaining residents. She found that there was no place in the town where she could sleep the night in comfort and so instead decided out loud to leave and seek an inn somewhere else. Again waiting for no response, Wilhelmina gathered up her pack and set out. The weather was dull. Gray clouds and no wind. She waved a solemn goodbye to the old teahouse couple, made a brief adjustment to the ribbon around her waste, and left.
"Why is this Rinne so hard to sense?" she wondered aloud.
She walked along the main road and after a while reached what seemed to be the outskirts of that dying town. She turned back and looked at it once more. The old couple was nice. That was why she left them a small bag of coins on her seat. She hoped they would find it and manage to leave this town.
"Careless."
Wilhelmina jumped up like a startled fish before realizing Tiamat had spoken.
"What do you mean 'careless'?" she asked, looking down.
Silence.
"Well you just hold your tongue, Tiamat", she retorted angrily, "and see how far we get when the only person making decisions is me."
She continued on in silence for a while when suddenly she felt something. She stopped. "Rinne." she heard Tiamat;s unnecessary statement. "I know!" she growled down at her. Closing her eyes she concentrated. At that precise moment she felt it. The casting of an Unrestricted Spell nearby. But where? She cursed herself angrily and focused harder on trying to locate the source. She almost had it. Focus harder! she cried angrily at herself.
"Teahouse."
"Damn you Tiamat!" she yelled to the sky. "Tell me that sooner!" and without thinking of it, she dropped her pack and ran, holding the front of her skirts as she raced down the streets of Dead Town.
That's when it hit her. Dead Town. Named by its residents for the unknown and mysterious deaths that have no doubt been occurring not just recently, but for years beyond count!
As she ran she saw the edges of the Fuzetsu completely engulfing the teashop. Clearly standing before her was a Rinne of unknown origins. It seemed human-like but crawled on all fours like a spider, its tongue lashing out and slicing through the old man of the shop. His fiery essence was immediately ingested by the Rinne before Wilhelmina had time to cry out. She plunged into the Fuzetsu. The monsters tongue lashed out again, aiming for the old woman, but Wilhelmina was ready. Her arm already in motion, several lengths of cloth launched themselves from her sleeve wrapping around the Rinne's tongue, diverting the attack. Almost lazily, the Rinne turned its whole body and with more force than expected, pulled Wilhelmina to the ground and dragged her half the distance to himself. Using the tremendous momentum from her fall, the Rinne leaped up and aimed his body at Wilhelmina's, hoping to crush her body under his. But Wilhelmina was on her knees by then and extending both her hands she created a solid shield from which the Rinne was thrown off of as if burned. As it writhed on the ground, she took the opportunity to dispel her shield and attack. The rage inside her brimming over as she manipulated a sword and gave it a fiery edge. She rushed the Rinne even as it readied its next attack, and sliced off its head. It gave a cry that was cut short and in a burst of flame, disappeared entirely, leaving not even its ashes.
Suddenly Wilhelmina realized it was over. It was Tiamat who had noted she had the tendency to fall into a sort of Battle Frenzy which made seconds seem like years and all thoughts other than fighting seemed to vanish entirely. This fight was no different. Had it only been a minute of fighting? She felt the weariness of hours in her bones. She would sleep heavily that night.
She looked around what remained inside the Fuzetsu. Apparently there were several human deaths prior to the old man. She swore silently at herself. Tiamat was right again: she was careless, and because of her lack of skills, more humans were devoured. She shook her head and steeled herself to her duty. Four Torches were needed. Not an extremely high number, she told herself. but more than necessary. Holding out her hand she gathered some of her Power of Existence. Carefully dividing the flames into four segments, she distributed them and the human shapes were restored. As the old man stood in front of her once more, she felt despair in her heart. "No way to die." she spoke to Tiamat. As always, silence greeted her words.
And abruptly the Fuzetsu unsealed itself. What little life remained around her went on as usual. The passing traveler. A farmers empty cart, driven by an unhealthy mule and even less healthy farmer. A small family passed by looking at her odd clothing openly before hurrying away. No trust was left in these people. She turned her back on the teahouse.
A few days of travel brought her no closer to civilization. She had crossed an ocean and stayed at a port inn. But due to the uninteresting nature of the town, she slept, ate, and left by the next morning.
As she wandered around in her usual way, Wilhelmina came across a couple of Rinne. She had felt them first of course, so wasn't surprised at all when they decided to jump from behind whatever cover they thought they had and attack her. Without even setting up a Fuzetsu, she effortlessly dispatched them and continued on her way. I'm getting better at that, she mused to herself, permitting a half smile to come across her face. Tiamat was silent.
The current countryside she found herself in offered no visible shelter. Rolling hills, lightly scattered trees, a nearby river, and several distant mountains. It was early evening and with a sigh she realized she'd be camping out in the woods again. She found a small circle of trees and set up camp. She sometimes worried about not being able to keep a watch but she was getting used to sleeping without worrying about any dangers. Tiamat never slept that she knew. As she drifted into sleep she wondered if Tiamat did nothing but sleep? Not her highest concern. As she lay down to sleep all her cares seemed to disappear.
She didn't dream that she knew of. Certainly she had slept the whole night. Though when she awoke in the morning all she felt like doing was sleeping all over again.
She opened her eyes and was quite surprised at the scene. Within her campsite sat a man. She startled up at the sight of him, and with a small shriek she jumped behind the nearest tree, taking in the rest of his appearance as she went. He wore a purple cape on his back, a very western looking sword hilt peeking out from it complete with black leather belt. His hair was long and white, with an odd looking crown on his head.
At her sound the man opened his apparently sleeping eyes and rose to his feet. Then, with great arrogance, yawned.
Wilhelmina cried out in shock, "Who the hell are you?!"
"Tomogara of Guze", she heard Tiamat's whisper.
"Pardon my intrusion Ms. Flame Haze", he started. "I am Shiro of Guze. Rainbow Winged Merihim, they call me. Those Rinne you destroyed was mine. I had set them to lure out a certain Flame Haze in particular, but you're apparently not her." He paused and studied her. She wasn't properly dressed, only loosely fitting garments badly covering her body. In his audacity, he smirked. "And just who are you? I am sure I've never met a Flame Haze such as you before."
Wilhelmina became furious. This Tomogara had just insulted her by insinuating she wasn't a threat to him. She stood upright and willed all her pride to give her voice power.
"I am the Manipulator of Objects, Wilhelmina Carmel! You, who are a Tomogara of Guze, speak your piece and be gone, or fight me!"
His response caught her off guard. Unable to force it down, laughter escaped through his hand as he desperately clutched at his mouth, his other hand holding his stomach. After a moment he gave up all pretense and erupted into gales of long winded laughter. Wilhelmina's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. After a time he stopped.
"Oh this is a treat!" he said wiping tears from his eyes. He looked her over and stopped at her midsection. "That ribbon! Is that Tiamat? Oh certainly it is! How long has it been, Tiamat? Oh, I can't remember! I thought you gave up on Flame Haze, Tiamat, old chum!"
"A change in times, Shiro. A change in power." Tiamat's response was a bit louder than almost anything Wilhelmina had heard before.
"Tiamat! You know this man? This 'Merihim' or whoever is no human or Flame Haze!. He's a Tomogara! He kills humans! He's not our friend!" But even to herself her words sounded childish. She bit her lip and stopped speaking entirely.
Merihim sat down and reached for something behind his back. Wilhelmina immediately crouched down into a defensive fighting position, even as he drew out a flask of water and took a long draught from it. After a brief drink, he shifted to his knees and bowed his head to her.
"Tiamat! Please. I need your help! You know my loyalties. Lend me your wisdom!"
Tiamat spoke aloud again. "Balle Masque."
Slowly, Merihim looked up at Tiamat, exchanging a brief glance with Wilhelmina. "Yes. Bel-Peol-sama has put out a call for the heads of all Flame Haze. I was looking for one in particular, since it was, after all, their fault for taking Bel-Peol-sama's eye."
Wilhelmina thought back to her teachings. Balle Masque was something like a castle. The strongest army of the Tomogara was named after it. It's leader seemed to be a woman of great power, known as the Arbiter of Reverse Reasoning, Bel-Peol. From what she could recall, Bel-Peol had been content boxed up in her castle doing nothing. Whatever this Flame Haze had done must have been idiotic in the extreme; the stupidest Flame Haze of them all.
"So, who is this Flame Haze who has insulted your master?" Wilhelmina wasn't going to be left out of the conversation at any level.
But the hard look in his eyes as he stared at her broke all her preconceptions of this Flame Haze he sought. Fear. He was afraid? Inconceivable.
With a deep breath, he said, "I seek the Flame of Heaven, Alastor, and his Flame Haze, the Flame-Haired Burning-eyed Hunter."
Before she could even express her shock, Tiamat spoke up. "Impossible. Location unconfirmed."
Merihim rose to his feet once again. "I know that already, Tiamat. The last time I saw that woman she chased off all my most powerful Rinne and almost lopped off my head with that sword she had. You remember that, right? Bel-Peol was there too. Killed your last Hunter, remember?"
Wilhelmina froze. She hadn't known the circumstance that Tiamat had lost her hunter. There was much that Tiamat hadn't told her of the past. The same was true for her, but this was a bit deeper what Wilhelmina had originally thought. Why had Tiamat's Hunter gone against Bel-Peol at all? The last time anyone had ever seen the old hag had been centuries ago, or so she was told. Had Tiamat gone without a hunter for all that time? So many questions raced through her head but stuck in her throat and chocked her to silence.
"W-w-wait a minute, Merihim. Just how did this Hunter get involved with the Arbiter of Reverse Reasoning? I thought she locked herself up in a castle somewhere and stays there day in day out?"
Merihim locked eyes with her. "Well I don't know the exact details, but the Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter went into the castle herself and attacked Bel-Peol with some kind of weird looking spear. Never seen it myself, but eyewitness accounts, by which I refer to Rinne that managed to escaped, described it as a Snake-Spear. Hell if I know what the hell they're babbling about. Stupid Rinne have no sense anyway."
After a time Tiamat spoke into the silence that had followed his words. "Discussion required." She sounded almost as if she had given an order. Merihim apparently thought the same.
"Well if you say so, Tiamat." He closed his eyes as he thought. "I'll meet you back in my old home country of Ireland." he said at length. "It's a small island off the far western shores of those lands. Certain business I have dictates I return there soon. Make your way that way and consider your decision. At the moment I must collect the rest of those Rinne I've distributed in this land."
He rose and made as if to leave. Wilhelmina's mind began to race.
"Wait!" she cried. "What do you plan on doing to her? Surely you don't plan on fighting her, or trying to kill her?"
"Mind your business Flame Haze." he warned her. "My mission is my own. Fare well, Illusionist Crown, Tiamat. Fare well, Ms. Flame Haze Wilhelmina Carmel."
And with a wink and a flash of purple flame, he vanished. Wilhelmina looked up at the sky. Early morning, and she was already starving.
She gathered her things, and prepared to leave.
END CHAPTER 1