Damn! Were my senses so clouded that I couldn't sense that someone else in here?! Damn it! So, hard to breathe. Mizuki gasped and struggled in the invisible grip of Luca's magic.
"Alright, Luca. Don't kill her. We need this one in top condition. With her looks and physical strength, she'd fetch plenty of Jewels." He had a sickening smile on his face.
Mizuki felt her magic energy gathering. "Let me go!" She growled. "I mean it!"
Luca only squeezed harder. "You feel that. That's your heart I have a hold of." She chuckled, moving to sit on the master's desk.
Mizuki stared at the girl.
She looked no older than herself.
"Why are you doing this for him? Can you not imagine what those girls are feeling now? They'll be terrified! Imagine what those scum bags will do to them once they get their filthy hands on them. Put yourself into their situation. How would you feel to be taken from your family all because of one greedy bastard!?" She was screaming by now. Pure rage pulsed in her veins
"There's no use trying to appeal to her humanity. She can't feel any pain or emotion." Isao continued to work on his papers. "I'm surprised. I'd thought that dark-haired wizard would be in here by now."
Mizuki frowned. "What are you talking about?" Yuta! Hurry up!
"The dark-haired boy who's been following you like a puppy since you joined that guild… Fairy Tail was it?"
Gray? "How do you know anything about me? Even Akio didn't know that much."
"Oh, I've been keeping an eye on you and your friends since Akio told me to lure you here."
"So, you must know I am a god, right?" She summoned all her strength to keep herself from being crushed.
"I know that you call yourself a god and believe that your mother is the queen of Olympus. I have to ask, were you dropped on your head as a child?" He laughed.
She frowned. "Why would you ask that?"
"Because… didn't you know that gods don't exist? It's a myth. You're just some jumped up wizard who knows compulsion magic like that other weirdo." He added. "Besides… if you were a god, you would be able to break Luca's spell. Right?"
Mizuki rolled her eyes.
"Her resistance is admirable. She's a tough one to break, Master." Luca commented.
"Well, let's see how long she can last."
Jellal took out a few dark wizards before scanning the room for his team mates. Where's Mizuki-chan?! He looked to Gray, he was in the middle of a tough one on one fight with some wind user. He then turned his attention to the door that the master disappeared off into. I guess I'll go see if she needs assistance. He made his way to the door and into the office.
"Aah! Not the one I expected, but, someone rushed to find you." Isao looked up to see Jellal barging into the office.
Luca still had Mizuki restrained in mid-air.
Jellal stared as the war goddess hung in the air, gasping for breath, face scrunched up in noticeable pain. "Mizuki-chan?"
"Jellal-kun-" She gasped as the hand clenched tighter around her heart.
Jellal looked to Luca. "Who the hell are you? Put her down if you know what's good for you."
Luca smirked. "What do you want with this thing?" She used her moving magic to fly Mizuki across the room, into a wall.
Jellal heard a sickening crunch. "Mizuki-chan!" He shot a spell at Luca, making her fly backwards and he ran to help Mizuki.
Isao stared at the two. "Like I said. Luca doesn't feel emotion or pain. Hit her with all you want, she won't feel a thing."
Jellal stared with wide eyes.
Mizuki coughed as she sat up. "Tell me, Isao… since when have you been bartering with daemons as well as gods?" She asked.
Jellal looked to her. "What?"
"Luca… is already dead."
Jellal turned his attention to the girl sitting on the floor. "Dead?!"
"I should have realised when I couldn't sense her presence or hear a heartbeat. No wonder she managed to sneak up on me. She reeks of death."
Isao merely sat down. "Let me guess, you know this because you're a god?"
"Like I told you. My father is Hades, king of the netherworld, I know what a dead and rotting body smells like." She gritted her teeth.
Isao stood up and helped Luca to her feet. "Luca is alive."
"Because the daemon made it so."
Isao gripped Luca's shoulders.
"What? Did he cut you a deal? If you gather enough young female souls for him, he'll give Luca life again? You're not selling those girls to slave traders… you're sending them across the borders of this world and the next.
The daemon will get them half way, before they enter the far shore… the gate ways to heaven and hell. Where their souls will be free."
Jellal put his arm around her and helped her to her feet. He could feel the heat radiating from her.
"Not only are you sending innocent girls to their deaths… you're sending them to the place where they will not rest in peace. Tortured within their afterlife as well as this one." Mizuki sniffed, holding back tears. She was recovering quickly from her heart being crushed. "You're worse than the daemon! What makes Luca so important that you couldn't just let her rest in peace?!"
"Because she is my daughter!" Isao finally snapped. "She's all I have."
Jellal's eyes widened. "Your daughter?" He breathed.
Mizuki stepped toward him. "Just think of every single mother and father that you have taken their daughters away from. You know what it's like!" She said calmly. "This is not living for your daughter! Like you said, she can't feel emotion or pain, the magic she's using isn't human! She's living a cursed life instead of moving on."
"What am I to do if I don't have her?" Isao broke a little. He hugged Luca tightly.
She just stood there like an emotionless doll. "Master?"
"She'll live on within you! I don't know how she died, but I know she wouldn't wish for this kind of life! Allow me to help… I am the princess of Olympus… I can set her free and make sure she passes through heaven's gate." She took another step towards them. "But first I need you to let go. Set yourself free of the daemons grasp."
"He'll kill me if I don't give him what he wants." His body shook.
"He'll have to go through me first, I promise… if you tell me where those innocent girls are and set Luca free, I'll deal with the daemon." Mizuki added.
"Please. If you care about your daughter, please do this for her." Jellal spoke up.
Isao looked to Luca whose eyes were clouded. "Luca?"
"Master… no… Father. She is right." She whispered. "The daemon won't just stop at those girls."
Jellal leaned into to Mizuki. "Where's your familiar?" He whispered.
"I called him… but he's not answering. I don't think he can hear me with all this dark energy around." She muttered back.
Jellal sighed. "Listen to her, or at least listen to your daughter." He said to Isao.
Isao glared at the blunette. "Luca doesn't understand what she's saying!"
"She still has a soul!" Jellal exclaimed. "A soul desperate to be set free."
"And how would you know that?!" Isao challenged.
"Would someone emotionless, someone without a soul, have tears in their eyes?"
Everyone turned their attention to Luca.
"Father…" She whimpered. "Stop."
"I know what it's like to be possessed… I know what it's like to be screaming to be set free and nobody hearing my voice." Jellal continued.
"Luca-san…" Mizuki crouched to Luca's level. "I can set you free. The heavens are peaceful and beautiful. From there you can look over the people you love. I know your soul can hear my voice."
A single tear trickled down her cheek. "Help me." She whispered. "Father… please save me." She looked to Isao, who was also fighting back tears.
Isao looked to Mizuki. "You can help?" He asked in a quiet. "Could you make it so that daemon can't get to her?"
Mizuki nodded. "I'll do whatever I can, within my power. But I need you to tell her that you'll let her go. Let her rest in peace."
He nodded and looked to Jellal. "The girls… all of them. They're underground, below the guild."
Jellal looked to Mizuki. "What do we do?"
Mizuki sighed. "We need to secure the place in which they are kept. Just in case the daemon comes to reap their souls. Then I can begin the process of setting Luca's soul free."
"Let's go then." Jellal looked to Isao. "You made a wise decision, sir."
