ACROSS THE WORLDS

By Ulquiorra9000

Chapter 20: Pyscho

"Training?" Maretta repeated. "What could Veldor even teach you? How to be an obsessive wackjob like him?" She grinned.

Mizuki pointed her cursed index finger at Maretta. "Actually, this." She unleashed a wriggling mass of razor-edged black mana tendrils that surged through the air.

"Whoa!" Maretta took an automatic step back and tugged on the mana whip's cords. At once, her four Voldaren bats swooped in to block the blow. The bloodsuckers extended their wings to form a living wall, red-black mana humming on theier wings' membranes just as Mizuki's tendrils hit.

A crackling spray of black mana blasted into the air, and Morrel wrinkled his nose at the smell of burning skin and hair. Mizuki's going all out! Now it's my turn. He tensed his blue-green mana and prepared to spring.

Time slowed to a crawl as Morrel leaped into the air, propelled by his green mana. It was a surreal sight, the mana discharge from Mizuki's spell creeping through the air like thick, molten lava. The four Voldarens were far too slow to intercept Morrel as he vaulted over them, his skin cold from sweat. I don't have long!

Morrel landed right before Maretta, charging his green-white mana into his left fist. He drew it back and swung with all his might.

Maretta's white mana barrier automatically flared up, the smooth, pearly surface spitting and sparking at Morrel's contact point. His mana-charged knuckles grated against the barrier's surface, and cracks slowly spread from the point of contact, spider-webbing across the whole barrier -

Time snapped back to normal and Morrel gasped with the sudden shock. His legs wobbled from exhaustion and he fought to stay upright, grinding his fist into Maretta's barrier with a desperate shout.

Sharp claws dug into Morrel's back and he yelped as a Voldaren bat wrenched him away from its mistress. The creature flung Morrel across the estate's grounds and he tumbled, fighting to stop himself. He dug his feet into the dewy ground and halted, panting for breath. So close...

Morrel got to his feet just as he saw Mizuki fire a wide cone of black mana from her left finger. The very air shuddered under the pressure, the spell threatening to envelope Maretta-

Two Voldarens, although battered from Mizuki's tendrils, easily swatted Mizuki aside with their wings, and Mizuki's spell went wide, firing wildly into empty air.

"Wow! You kids know your stuff," Maretta commented as she stepped toward her opponents. "Those tendrils, that super-speed... looks like today's youth has some real talent."

Then, before Mizuki could get up, Maretta issued another cord from her mana whip and attached it to the back of Mizuki's neck.

Morrel stared. "No!"

"Oh, yes." Maretta giggled as she commanded Mizuki to rise, and the Kamigawa girl shakily obeyed. The four bats hovered in place, watching as Mizuki shuffled toward Morrel, her cursed arm extended as though to seize Morrel's shirt.

"Let her go!" Morrel blurted, but he knew it was no good. Maretta had seemed amicable in Haijin-no-Imari's castle, but now... he saw what kind of vicious witch she actually was.

Why did it have to be like this?

Mizuki sprang like a cat and tackled Morrel to the ground. Her face was twisted in horror and panic as her body disobeyed her, her dark hair tangled with sweat. "Do somethin'!" Mizuki yelped. She straddled Morrel, pinning him down. "I-I'm trying to fight her, but her whip..."

Nearby, Maretta marched closer to her victims, smiling. "Look at that," she said. "Like two lovers. Except for this part." She twitched the mana cord on Mizuki's neck.

Baring her teeth in agony, Mizuki reached down and wrapped her cursed hand's cold fingers around Morrel's throat and started to squeeze. "S-stop me!" she wheezed. "C'mon!"

Morrel struggled against Mizuki's weight, his muscles burning. "Y-your mana aura," he gasped. "It's too heavy!"

"Then hurt me!" Mizuki said urgently. "Should interrupt my aura long enough to free you! Make me let go!"

Morrel fought to make a wry smile. "H-hurt you? I could never." His head felt light, and Zwifalt Estate spun around him.

"Don't be stupid! Hurry up!"

Slowly, awkwardly, Morrel raised his left hand, charging his green-white mana. "You understand, don't you?"

"COME ON!"

Morrel saw spots in his vision, but found the strength to throw a hasty jab at Mizuki's temple.

Green-white mana blasted from the impact and Mizuki tumbled away, a nasty bruise on her face.

"You actually did it?" Maretta said, raising her eyebrows. "What a naughty boy! Fine, then..." She jiggled her mana whip's handle.

Mizuki sprang to her feet and slashed her claws through the air.

Pain blasted in Morrel's brain as Mizuki's claws raked his chest. Blood sprayed and soaked into his clothes.

"No! No!" Mizuki stared in horror as her body mangled Morrel's flesh. "P-please don't be dead..."

Morrel coughed and somehow sat up, hands clasped on his searing wound. "I-I'm not dead yet."

Maretta made an impatient noise and pointed. "Mizuki, hurry up and kill him already! Go!"

Mizuki took a step forward-

A crackling web of white-black mana enveloped her, and Mizuki dropped to the ground, shrieking and spasming.

"What!" Maretta frantically looked all around. "What was -"

Veldor had gotten to his feet and stumbled across the grassy field, his right leg bent at a bad angle. His right arm was extended, his hand back to normal. "Mana net launcher," he said. "Useful for subduing target. And disrupting mana connections." As he spoke, the blue mana cord on Mizuki's neck broke off and retracted into Maretta's whip handle.

"You..." Maretta snarled. "Fine! I'll finish you without Mizuki's help!" She pointed, and her three bats prepared to swoop on Veldor.

I must help him! Morrel cursed his open wound and his light-headedness. Then it hit him. Of course! Hastily, he gathered more green-blue mana and manifested it on his wound. He gasped in pain and bared his teeth, but didn't stop until his finely-controlled mana crystals sealed the wound. He tested the makeshift bandages. They held firm.

The Voldaren bats descended on Veldor.

Morrel sprang to his feet and gathered what little mana he had left. Throwing out a hand, he conjured a mana barrier that blocked two Voldarens, the bats bouncing awkwardly off the surface. Yes!

Veldor dodged the other two Voldarens as they crashed into the ground nearby, and he reformed his right hand onto a long blade. He thrust the blade right into one bat's head.

The wound smoked and sizzled, and the bat's head exploded in a shower of bone and gore.

Morrel stared. "How...?"

"Coated arms in holy water," Veldor explained. "Otherwise, impossible to kill vampires."

Maretta scowled. "Cintrella didn't confiscate it?"

"Hid bottle in compartment in chest."

Maretta stared, then howled in anger and sent in her other three bats. The vampires circled around Veldor, trying to bite and claw him. Veldor dodged each blow with expert precision and leaped over the vampires, then extended his left arm's blade.

However, Veldor's intended target did a barrel-roll to evade it, and Veldor's blade arm sunk into the ground. Another bat raked its claws on Veldor's chest, and another swatted him aside with a wing strike. Veldor tumbled helplessly on the ground, his blade-arms retracting to default length.

Maretta put her free hand on her hip. "It's beyond me how you can move like that with a broken leg."

"Pain... only in nerves," Veldor groaned. "Can compartmentalize brain. Pain put aside, like placing an item behind others on a shelf."

Maretta stared in disbelief. "Just die, you metal freak!" she snarled. Her three bats gathered to finish him off-

Veldor snapped his fingers, and Mizuki's mana net vanished.

Mizuki leaped to her feet and pointed right at Maretta, a small sphere of black mana charging on her fingertip. She fired.

Another devastating cone of black mana issued forth, and this time, it connected. The mana vaporized Maretta's weakened barrier, shards of white mana flying through the air like shattered glass.

Morrel found himself charging across the dewy grass, ignoring the hideous pain radiating from his chest with each step. He didn't care. He knew what he had to do.

Through the haze of lingering black mana, Morrel charged the last of his green-white mana into his left fist, drew it back, and sank a terrific punch to Maretta's lower back.

Maretta shrieked as Morrel's blow sent her flying. She sprawled onto her stomach, her mana whip rolling from her hand. She scrambled to seize it.

One of Veldor's long, liquid metal arms reached out and morphed a hand that grabbed the whip handle first. Maretta helplessly reached out to retake the whip handle as Veldor retracted his blade, holding the whip handle close to his chest. He shortened his left arm's blade into a knife and slashed.

The whip handle was cut cleanly in half.

The three Voldaren bats shrieked as their bonds vanished. They hovered in place for a second, squeaking at each other, until they swooped away to rejoin the main battle where the Voldarens tried to hold off the cathar incursion.

Maretta gasped in pain and tried to get up, but Mizuki stomped over and held her left hand's claws right at the older woman's throat. "You're done, bitch," Mizuki snarled. "Sit the hell down!"

Shakily, resentment burning in her eyes, Maretta sat cross-legged, panting for breath. "What now, girly?" she asked. Her mockingly flirty tone shook. "Gonna kill me?"

"I should," Mizuki grated. "You psycho! Trying to make me kill Morrel all nice and slow, workin' with vampires..."

Maretta laughed. "Zwifalt Estate made for a good trap, didn't it?"

"You had this crap planned out all along, didn't you?"

"I even made sure the local cathars sent a request to Havengul for reinforcements, so Zoira would overhear and send you guys here," Maretta gloated. "Such a good plan... and it almost worked. Well, it was fun."

Mizuki drew back her cursed arm to slash at Maretta's throat -

Veldor's left arm extended and hooked its end around Mizuki's wrist like a claw. "No," Veldor said firmly, shambling over. "May need her."

"But when we get the Sphaera shard here, we don't actually need her for anything, right?" Mizuki glowered at Maretta.

"Unsure. Wait and see. Need battle to conclude first."

Mizuki relaxed. "Ugh. Fine!"

"Very good." Veldor retracted both arms and reformed his hands. "Morrel, how is your injury?"

Morrel sat cross-legged like Maretta and winced. "I'm stable, but don't expect me to fight or go anywhere."

"Not needed. Stand by."

*o*o*o*o*

Slowly, but surely, the valiant cathars repulsed the Voldaren counter-attack and resumed the offensive. Without Maretta's help, and being outnumbered, the Voldarens fell one by one, exploding into dust as wooden stakes impaled them or dissolving when holy water doused them. Many cathars fell as well, soaking Zwifalt Estate's grounds in hot blood.

Only Cintrella stubbornly remained of the vampires after a bitter struggle, and at last, a trio of priests locked Cintrella's wrists and ankles in white enchantments, and the burliest cathar drove his stake into the vampire's heart with a flourish. Cintrella seized in her restraints, threw back her head, and let out a pained howl just before her flesh turned to dust.

A horrible silence fell over Zwifalt Estate, broken only by the moans and curses of injured cathars. Morrel watched wearily as several white-robed priests applied green-white mana to the soldiers' wounds, and one such priest approached Morrel's party.

"You lot need healing?" the priest said gruffly through his thick black beard. He tapped the end of his staff into the dewy ground, demanding an answer. His eyes glinted under his bicorn hat.

Veldor nodded. "Leg broken. Companions here need general healing."

"Right. Hang on." The priest knelt by Veldor and enveloped the Esper man's leg in an oval-shaped barrier, the flesh mending in its gentle light. He did the same for Mizuki's wounds, and moved on to Morrel. The Bant battlemage sighed with relief as the cathar gently dispelled the crystal bandages and applied his healing spell.

The priest pursed his lips. "How'd you people end up here, anyway? You fight well, but... this is no place for you."

"We're... well... looking for something," Morrel said carefully, patiently waiting as his chest wound sealed up inch by inch. "The Voldarens stole it." He decided not to say from whom the Voldarens had stolen the Sphaera shard.

"That right, boy?" The healer turned to Veldor. "You, chap... did the Voldarens catch you while lookin' for this... thing... of yours?"

Veldor dusted himself off. "Need to obtain item Voldarens stole. Very important. Belongs to an associate of mine. Its presence here strengthens Voldarens. Don't want that."

The priest shook his head. "Damn straight. We won the battle, but blast it, we lost too many men. Can't even keep the whole area secure anymore. We're losin' the war, we are."

Morrel fell silent, staring at the ground. He burned to help these people more against monsters like Cintrella and her family. It reminded him of home, the pristine Bantian kingdoms on fire, the people fleeing to refugee camps to go hungry and battle disease, always getting bad news from the front...

Easy. Morrel took a deep breath. The invaders will still be there when you get back. For now, remember the planeswalker code!

"We're going in," another cathar, a captain by the look of him, announced. He led a squad of six.

Veldor sprang to his feet. "May I? Must find something Voldarens stole."

The captain took in Veldor with his narrowed eyes. "Fine. I suppose we owe you for the help. Just stay where we can see you."

Stensians, Morrel thought. I can see why they're so tense, seeing how they have to deal with vampires all the time! And this gloomy weather...

As Veldor marched off with the cathars into Zwifalt Estate's open front doors, Mizuki settled next to Morrel, a hurt look on her face. "You okay?" she asked tentatively. She ran her fingers along Morrel's bare chest.

"Yeah. You got me good, but this guy's magic..." Morrel put a hand on Mizuki's far shoulder. "I'm okay."

"Still feels wrong," Mizuki said with a shudder. "I could feel everything that was happening. I'm... I'm sorry it happened. If we were more careful..."

Morrel smiled and squeezed Mizuki's shoulder. "Thank you. It's not really your fault, though." His face fell. "But what about you? Are ther any lingering effects from Maretta's whip?"

"No," Maretta cut in. She hadn't moved an inch, sitting cross-legged nearby. "Your lady friend's fine. Such a good servant she could have been..."

Mizuki snarled. "Stuff it, you slag. Don't try and touch us again. And if you try to planeswalk away, I won't show the same kind of mercy Veldor did!"

Maretta shrugged. "Okay, fine. I could use a breather, anyway."

Mizuki glared at the older woman but didn't say anything.

Half an hour later, the cathars and Veldor returned, carrying armloads of treasures and weapons. Veldor rejoined Morrel and Mizuki, carrying something under his arm.

"What's that?" Morrel asked. "Did you find the Sphaera Vitae shard? Do the cathars have it?" He looked over at the church warriors, but saw no such thing.

Veldor shook his head. "I provided exact profile of Sphaera Vitae shards, including their mana signature, but nothing similar was found. Most notable artifact was this." He unrolled the item: an ornate scroll, with strange, pointy text on it. Gruesome, crude diagrams of tortured people and what looked like demons covered it.

Mizuki made a face. "What the hell?"

"Demonic scroll," Veldor said. "Useful to summon and control lesser demons, and enter pacts with more powerful ones. Mainly used by cultists and vampires, apparently. This must be what Cintrella intended to show the visiting Vaduva vampires during Ivan Voldaren's wedding. Not Sphaera Vitae shard."

Morrel hung his head. All this... just for a demonic scroll?

Veldor rolled up the scroll and tossed it to a cathar. "Stensia lead clearly a bust. Must move on with plans. Will also alert cathars of impending Vaduva family visit. Cannot fight any more vampires for now. We will also leave monentarily."

Mizuki shrugged and got up with Morrel. "Where are we goin'?" she asked. "It better not be even nastier than this!"

"Would like you both to arrange for cathars to escort you to a pier, to take a ship to the Nephalia province," Veldor said. "As compensation for aiding cathars. Certain that they will agree. Not an unreasonable request."

Morrel nodded. Although healed, he was still weary. He tried not to sway in place. "All right. And you? Your Etherium looks rather badly damaged..."

"Will return to Esper for repairs," Veldor explained. He reached out and grabbed Maretta's upper left arm and forced her to her feet. "And will escort prisoner to a facility on the Cliffs of Ot. Guards will detain her in cell until we need her. Escape unlikely, especially given her whip's destruction."

Maretta gave Veldor an appraising look. "Jail, huh? I've been naughty, haven't I?"

Veldor scowled at her. "Coquettish behavior unnecessary. Do not attempt to flee in AEther, or on Esper. Will end badly for you."

Maretta made a theatrical sigh and slumped her shoulders. "Okay, okay. I'll behave myself... for once."

But as Veldor charged up his white-blue-black planeswaling gate to take Maretta away, Maretta winked at Morrel and mimed blowing a kiss. "See you later, kiddo. It's been fun."

Mizuki made a dismissive hand gesture. "Go away, slag."

"Such a bad girl," Maretta commented, just before she and Veldor vanished from Innistrad.

Morrel fixed his eyes onto Mizuki's and grinned. "So... ready to get out of here?"

Mizuki grimaced. "I can't even put it into words..."