Very nervous because this is my first FanFic. Anyway, if you have some negative comments, please don't comment/review about it. I'm very sensitive to harsh words.
What did really happen? What did happen? What is happening? I'm confused, somebody make this stop. Those were Yoshino's words when she was running away from an unknown wizard, she does not wasn't to fight. Yoshino never wanted violence, all she ever wanted is peace but it is different. Yoshinon was not in her left hand but rather lost in the hands of the pursuing wizard.
"…ha….a"
"Say goodbye, Spirit"
There were no people around, nothing but emptiness and her head begun to swirl while her thoughts became disordered. Simply, Yoshino is currently confused and scared so all she can do is run away from her enemy just how she always run away from the AST. She recalled the few minutes she was doing before this happened, It all started about half an hour ago when she was peacefully walking the streets of Tengu City.
30 MINUTES AGO
The puppet in her left hand clattered and danced as if it was excited for some reason. Yoshino was happy that he is happy. To her, Yoshinon is her best friend and un replaceable that she would lose her mind and go wild if something happens to him. In truth, Yoshinon is just is not her second personality that she ideals so much but a restraining chain that was created due to Yoshino's wish to not hurt anybody and as a result, her powers are held back greatly that she herself couldn't remember what she was like when she is truly released from her chains.
[Nyahaha~ I feel happy today]
"It is…..a peaceful day after all"
[What should we do? What should we do? I know, let's eat ice cream]
"Heh? But you don't have a stomach" Yoshino reminded Yoshinon that he doesn't have a physical body but rather, he relies on the puppet for outside communication
[Ggh! Then, I'll just watch you eat]
"….Okay"
Just on the other side, a man drinking a beer to relieve his frustration hit the table like he lost a lot of money. He remembers his superior's words that his performance is really down the chart and if he doesn't straighten up, he's fired. He thought that if he could kill a Spirit he might be able to stay in his job for a long time and he might get a promotion to a captain. Just about he was to drink his third bottle, his eyes caught the sight of a familiar young girl. He gazed his folders full of pictures of the Spirit while they are disguised as humans. So far, all of them are the ones Shido sealed and when he turned the right picture, the identities matched. Blue hair with matching blue eyes and a white rabbit puppet on her left hand. He wasn't mistaken, it was the Spirit [Hermit], he was lucky since she was alone and it was his time to shine. He stood up and stalked the [Hermit] for a right chance to attack without any innocent people seeing him as a wizard.
"Lucky me, I got myself a weak Spirit to target"
Little did Yoshino know, a malevolent wizard with a killing intent is following her like a predator. Even though twenty minutes has passed, the male wizard did not give up and his adrenaline feeling is still intact. His heart raced faster while he tightly grip his pale glowing laser sword. When Yoshino visit a beautiful garden near the park just beyond the woods and trees between the two location. A laser knife was thrown up ahead of her as a warning shot, it made Yoshino stopped her movements and her heart felt fear while it beat faster. The male wizard's eyes showed insane killing intent even though he is facing against a Spirit. Because of his rank as a Master sergeant, he did not fear Spirits and became prideful of it.
"A….human"
"You can't run away now, [Hermit]"
Even though she was scared that she did not know what to do anymore, Yoshino never thought of fighting back against a human. It was her nature after all, her shy and docile nature makes it hard for her to fight and resist, she can be seen fighting but only rarely or just for defensive purposes. Yoshino always thinks that she does not want to hurt others because they do now want to be hurt themselves. Despite being a Spirit, she still has a heart of an innocent young girl but her enemy did not care. She begun to run away but the wizard is faster than her, he only managed to grabbed Yoshinon and Yoshino only noticed it when she was far away from him.
PRESENT
She used her feet for brakes and stopped for a while, she could not decide to whether run away without her most valuable friend or fight back to take back Yoshinon. Yoshino never thought of running right now and forced herself to resist if she were to take back Yoshinon. A pale glow appeared around her and her Astral dress manifested, a green rabbit jacket with white sun dress appeared. With the other's help, Yoshino at least learned to be more a little brave at a situation like this.
"Oh, You're going to fight back"
"Give me back….my friend"
"You want this puppet? Come and get it!" He pointed his laser sword while squeezing the puppet tightly
"….ngh" Even though it is for the sake of Yoshinon, she could not bring herself to attack people
"I knew it. You're too scared"
Yoshino clenched her fist tightly blaming herself for being weak and a coward, she wants to cry but she does not want to so she held back her tears. The man raised the puppet with both hands and prepared to rip it in half with the laser sword. Yoshino noticed his intention to destroy Yoshinon but still she could not bring herself to harm someone. When the sword slowly reached the puppet's body, her mind went blank and she instinctively summoned ice and impaled the man with multiple ice spikes until his body is torn into pieces. Yoshino what she have done, her Astral dress is stained with little drops of blood. Her thoughts were broken and run wild.
"Waaaahhhh!"
Yoshino held her head and let out a pined scream, she was covered in fear of what she have done. Without hesitation, she dragged her feet away into the woods near the park and kept being haunted on her actions. A bright glow appeared behind the trees near her and there was one woman that appeared before her. The woman had a long Pale blond hair and an advance realize and she is holding a small device that was attached to the deceased wizard's armor. On her ear is an intercom that allowed her to communicate with Westcott directly.
"Who…..are….you?"
"My name is Ellen Mira Mathers? I see that you killed Master Sergeant Zack"
"I-I…didn't wanted….to….but" Her voice was shaking in fear and trauma that it caused to her
"You were too scared and acted on your instincts" She continued the words Yoshino is too scared to speak before getting to the part of her purpose "My boss has seen it when Zack activated his realize, come with me"
"Why?"
First, Yoshino thought that why would she come along with a dangerous looking person that she did not know especially that Ellen is the strongest wizard and second, she too is a wizard that has a dangerous expression. Ellen smiled gently to lessen the hostility of the scared Spirit when she reached out her hand. Ellen and Westcott watched the monitor when Zack's realizer was forcefully activated and became interested when he confronted a Spirit and asked Ellen to watch and act on the right time.
"You don't have to be scared. My boss can help you clear your head"
"…."
Yoshino silently reached out to her hand since she is in an unstable and confused state. Her mind was too out of order that she could not remember that she forgot Yoshinon when she run away in fear. In a special white room, Yoshino sat in a corner and held her knees while her eyes dilated. The door cracked in half and a delighted Westcott walked right in with Ellen, he was glad to meet a Spirit and he immediately knew what to do.
"I see that you're still scared but fear not I will make it go away"
Yoshino stared at the strange veteran looking man when he touched her head. She was confused and her heart kept racing fast and never able to calm down.
"What…do…you mean?"
"You don't need anyone, you need to accept and free yourself"
He whispered with a cold and hypnotizing tone while his eyes kept a sharp and straight look. Yoshino loosened her hand and sat in her knees while listening to Westcott's words. The villainous man took advantage of the young Spirit's unstable state so he can have a Spirit by his side. He thought that if he had Ellen, the strongest wizard and a Spirit with him, the DEM board members would not dare to challenge him or even touch him.
"Free….myself"
"Break those chains, stop running away and remove all the unnecessary people around you"
When he meant "unnecessary" he meant to forget and break her good ties with the other Spirits, Ratatoskr and especially Shido. Westcott made Yoshino forgot Yoshinon and inserted that the puppet brings nothing but pain and suffering so she should hate Yoshinon. Westcott's words can sway anyone into doing his bidding, he thought that he should find a way to control a Spirit that has a strong potential to be a dangerous Inverse Spirit.
"Don't listen to Itsuka Shido because he's only going to bring more suffering"
"Shido-san….is bad and wrong?"
"You should only listen to me and no one else because you can never be free with them"
"My…..head"
"Only pain will be left and with that you will grow a hatred towards them"
Yoshino's eyes went blank and her head immediately laid down, she went silent for a while which make it success for Westcott. He smiled while he stood up after bending for a few minutes then he fixed and straightened his black sleeve. He stood back for a while to watch his words affect a Spirit's state of mind. Black energy surrounded her and her Astral dress changed its form and shape into a black and red hooded jacket without the rabbit features and pockets. She let down her hood and an evil smile appeared on her face when she raised her head. Westcott slowly clapped at his success and managed to fully released a Spirit, Her other personality is deeply locked up inside her but now it vanished.
"Ike, this is…..Inversion"
"I know and that's why it must succeed"
"My…head, it hurts"
Her splitting headache lasted for a minute before she felt normal again then she felt her hands and squeezed both of her fists to lessen the numbness in her body, her personality as well drastically changed. Westcott approached her and pointed his finger up and an idea came to him and it is to test Yoshino's newly released state which can be called a Spirit's Inverse form.
"How are you feeling? By the way, My name is Isaac Peram Ray Westcott"
"Isaac…Westcott…?" The loss of her emotions is only temporary and will last for a few minutes. Her eyes are still blank and her vision is a bit swaying "Where…..am I?"
"You're in DEM Japanese branch"
"My heart feels heavy, I feel like a part of me is missing"
"It is the natural feeling of being free. Come, I will tell you everything"
Yoshino removed her Astral dress and switched back to her human appearance before they walked out of the room. It has been five hours ever since Yoshino disappeared and everyone else got worry since she has not come back yet and worse, not even Fraxinus could find her in their cameras and she is not emitting Spirit energy. Shido and other Spirits got worry that they tried to helped by searching the city as well. They decided to split into three groups.
"Kaguya and Yuzuru, will search downtown while Miku and Tohka search the shopping districts"
Shido showed the map and pointed the directions they are assigned to search
"Shido, What about you?"
"I'll search the streets"
"Darling, Are you okay to be alone?"
"Don't worry about me. Now, let's go"
At his signal the three groups split their ways in three different direction. Fraxinus has not detect even a faint Spirit energy on the area. With Yoshino's nature, being alone and missing for hours, who knows what could happened but currently they are not aware of what really happened. An hour has passed and everyone went back to Fraxinus to rest their aching feet, the only clue they have is a short sign of Spirit energy which is five hours ago then they got something on one of their field cameras so Kotori personally told this to the others.
"The clue we have is that and…..this piece of evidence"
"…!"
Everyone widened their eyes in surprise and a short gasp, What is on Kotori's hand right now is an icicle. The piece is a bit shattered and there is a trace of blood on its tip, she said they found it on the ground near a public garden along with other pieces of shattered ice beside a what it seems a cleaned off crime scene. What is more is that the last trace of Spirit energy is exactly in that spot but they cannot figured it out on what did happened.
"An ice? Then, that means Yoshino is still out there" Tohka asked
"Maybe she was taken by demonic criminals" Kaguya fantasized
"Question. Why would there be ice in a place like that?" Yuzuru asked as well
"She must have fought someone" Miku replied
"But Yoshino rarely fights and if she does, its to defend herself" Shido remembered the time Yoshino summoned Zadkiel
Even though they are in their thinking positions, none of them came up with an idea on where could be the young Spirit. No one knew can theorize on a possibility after a mysterious disappearance, leaving only nothing but ice on the last spot. Meanwhile inside the private car of the said target which is Mr. Jonathan Roadwell, an influential DEM financial manager and one of the group member that opposes and hates Isaac. The night has fallen when he is sitting in his private car and while looking out of the window with a bored expression, a heavy force stomped in the car's hood and made it bent and the car to stop. His three bodyguards equipped with special guns walked right out of the car and faced the attacker.
"Who the hell you think you are destroying my car?"
Roadwell walked out of the car personally to deal with the attacker which is a young girl in a black and red hooded jacket. Upon realizing that the attacker's physical strength, Astral dress and appearance, he deduced that it was a Spirit that attacked him. He stepped away a few meters and ordered his bodyguards to fire at the Spirit.
"Shoot the Spirit!"
In a single order, the three men in black suit, simultaneously fired their pistols loaded with special bullets the same as the AST uses against Spirits. An invisible barrier blocked and caught all the fired bullets like a fish in a net and counter attacked by returning all the bullets all at once like it repulsed and pushed away all of it in an opposite direction. The bullets they fired was used against them and the bullets rained and pierced through their body.
"Humans will be humans…."
She sighed with disappointed while she walked passed their bleeding and dead bodies, Yoshino grabbed him tightly by the neck and threatened to drop him at such height. Roadwell became too scared when he looked below his feet that are not touching the ground anymore, he was in a panic that he is ready to tell everything he knows. Before Yoshino was about to eagerly drop him anytime soon when her phone rang and the call came from Westcott.
"Is he still alive?"
"Yes, Westcott-san. I have him here"
"Don't kill him yet, let me hear his final words"
Yoshino put it on speaker phone and faced it towards the man with a disgusting scared face. Sweat dropped down his cheeks the moment he hears Westcott's voice. He gave a cheerful tone like he was happy that Roadwell is about to die. He grabbed the Spirit's hand that grabbed him by the neck and his feet is shaking while struggling.
"Oh, Roadwell~ How are you?"
"Westcott you bastard. You won't get away with this"
"How do you like the [Hermit]? Isn't her capabilities amazing?"
"Y-you have a Spirit?! You will be exposed by the others!"
"I know, that's why I'm going to eliminate them. I did ignore all of you but you but all of you became annoying"
"…..!"
"Kill him…." When she heard those words, Yoshino felt like she does not want to do it but she tried to ignore that feeling
Westcott gave the order in a cold and uncaring tone before he hanged up and seconds later, Yoshino let go of his neck and dropped him to his impending doom while Roadwell screams final meaningless words. In the inside, she felt like someone is telling her that what she is doing is wrong but she refused to of the shadow, Kurumi gracefully walked and greeted Yoshino with a warm smile. She used her clones to gather information and is very well aware of what happened earlier that day.
"Tokisaki…Kurumi…"
"Ara, so you already know me" She placed her hand into her soft cheeks and smiled even more "You looked quite different from before"
"That's none of your business"
"Is that how you talk to a fellow Spirit, I'm very saddened" She sounded like a real sad person and even acted like she is going to cry "I want to do the job but he said that he wants a test run on smaller targets"
Right now, Yoshino is not in the mood to talk with anybody even to Kurumi but since she had plenty of time, she listened on Kurumi's true purpose in going all the way here. When Kurumi looked back at Yoshino whose expression wanted to get to the cruel Spirit's purpose, she felt another headache like it is trying to remind her of something.
"You know, Shido-san and the other Spirits searched for you when they noticed you disappeared"
"I see….." When she said those words, there were no signs of any reaction, not even a hint of emotion
"I can't believe the magic in that man's words"
"Ggh! Let's continue this later" She felt a striking pain in her head
She shrugged her shoulder with a teasing smile and the two Spirits walked back to DEM Japanese branch. Inside a huge private room, Westcott is already waiting in the couch with Ellen standing beside him. Only Kurumi was seen talking to Westcott and Yoshino was not with her, he was not surprised though since he have not managed to fully control the young Spirit which prove that the wizards are far easier to control than a young Spirit.
"I can see that you're not surprised"
"I haven't managed to destroy the kindness left inside of her to complete the Inversion"
"You can do it now, I won't watch anyway"
Inside one of DEM's laboratory where Yoshino is cuffed into a chair with electrodes in some parts of her body, Isaac along with Ellen is going to do brainwash an innocent young Spirit's mind and break her down. She can feel herself getting sleepy and the electrodes produced a vibrating sensation. On her head is what seems to be a machine that can produce electricity or for short, electrocute someone.
"You….made me…hurt people"
"Heh, you managed to retain yourself but not for long"
He gave Ellen the signal and with a snap, Ellen pressed a button in one of the machines and high sustainable voltage came out in the machine and this left Yoshino to scream out of the shocking pain. Every time she resists, Westcott would order Ellen to continuingly electrocute her but proven to be stubborn to Westcott's attempt to subjugate her.
"Listen to what I say; You don't need to hold back"
After more several electrocutions, Yoshino finally reached her limit and Westcott's words directly reached her. At that moment, her eyes turned blank like it was soulless and empty, her voice is devoid of emotions and an example on how much Westcott broke her down to the limit to the point that he made Yoshino go inverse.
"I…don't need to hold back"
"The humans and Ratatoskr are your enemies"
"They are my enemies…."
"That's right and you obey and do everything I say…."
He ordered Ellen to release her from being restrained and when the metal cuffs are loose, Yoshino slowly stood up and walked a few steps forward. She raised her head and responded to Westcott with a straight expression.
"I understand…Westcott-san"
A Smile of victory was on Westcott's lips, his twisted ways have done it again just like how he do his ways. His mind is full of plans and all he ever thinks is to turn the world in chaos, he is a twisted man after all and not even hell would now accept such a twisted man.
