Unmei Force Solitary Legends: Betrayed Soul
Chapter 1: Mirela, the Mud Homunculi
A/N: Note that there is a running poll on my profile page, which regards to a alternate take to the story. Both story paths will take a while to write out, and each of them have their own points and counter-points to why the path exists, but they are both of equal value to me, so I put it up in a poll, to write out the other path as a side-story, which will likely be semi-canon, or even replace this, if there are enough votes to win by a land-slide over the votes to keep this story-line.
In Faust's house...
Richard slowly woke up inside of his bed, rising up on bed, as he moved his hand to the lantern, only to feel something on the table with the lantern. After spending a while feeling around the object, he then grabbed it into his hand, and moved it in front of his face. The object itself was a large golden diamond-shaped pendant with a golden neck-chain and a golden cover. He then flipped open the cover, as a small folded parchment on his face. He then picked it up, before unfolding it, as there was a message scrawled on it, and inside the cover was a large diamond-shaped prismatic gem inside of it.
'This is for you. I believe in your determination for the task ahead, Richard. -Yukari' The message read.
After Richard read the message, he then smiled, before he then pocketed the note, and equipped the pendant on his neck. "Thank you, Yukari... Even though I have left you in much trouble, you would be so nice to lend a helping hand for me... You truly are one of the most amicable mentors around this reality." He stated to himself.
He then slowly got up, before he then exited the bedroom, before looking around for Faust. He checked Arhea's room first, as the girl was still laid in bed, still and unmoving. Richard grunted in slight irritation, before he then checked the room, including the room where he sacrificed the tree homunculi, as the blood-sap stains were gone, presumably by Faust's own care for the room. He stood there for a moment, as he felt a bit guilty, recalling the dying moments of the homunculi, who were left betrayed to die by his own hands.
"If there was a way that I could have saved you... I would have done everything to ensure that a poor girl like you would have lived in a life worthy for you." Richard solemnly muttered, bowing his head slightly in mourning.
However, as he did, a small green soul formed in the middle of the room, as it shot towards Richard's open pendant, before it was sucked in, as the gem inside glowed green briefly, before the colour faded away. Richard did notice the soul entering the pendant, as he then lifted the pendant, as he could see the faint traces of the homunculi's spirit floating within it.
"So her spirit still lingers in this world... If she has emotions, her soul exists undeniably." Richard muttered back. "I don't know how many more will be sacrificed... but I will store their very souls and use everything I have on the decisive moment to return then to the physical realm to live once more beyond their betrayed demises..."
Richard then headed outside, as he noticed that Faust just arrived back in the forest, holding a large lump of clay in his hands.
"Ah, Faust... Found your ingredients, haven't you? I never thought that you have rose this early in the morning to get the task done." Richard asked Faust with a fairly cheerful attitude.
"I rather get all of my tasks done as quick as possible. It is a very beneficial habit to have." Faust answered back.
"That I can agree. Let us head inside and create the next homunculus." Richard answered back.
Faust nodded, before they quickly made way to the transmutation circle, as Faust quickly placed the ingredients on the points of the circle, before Richard then funnelled his magic inside of it, as it activated. When the transmutation was done, before them was a girl made of mud, as her body was slightly blobby and wiggly at points, as if her body was held together by a unknown force, as her hair was long with several parted wisps of hair, and her feet were connected as a mud puddle below her feet.
"Uunnhh..." The mud-girl spoke with a slightly deep tone that made her sound a bit ghoulish.
"Faust... Check the book, what affinity does she classify under?" Richard quickly asked Faust, who flipped open the large book that he was carrying.
"Mud... Affinity is Anger..." Faust answered back, before he closed the book. "At least this will be useful to see if our theory is right..."
"We'll see how she turns out after a week or two in whatever village or town is nearby us, in society itself." Richard stated. "Say, Faust... You don't have a means to gain money for us, do you?"
"Not quite." Faust answered back, before he then thought of something. "I have a suggestion, we use the homunculi that we create to be put to work. Considering that they're supposed to be used to ease the burden of work for other humans by splitting the work between them and the other workers, I think that they will work well and earn us money."
"...Hopefully the jobs won't be something far too difficult for her to work on." Richard answered back quietly, before he then sucked in a breath. "Alright, I guess that we don't have much choice on that. I could work myself, but I doubt that I would be accepted if the homunculi are more suited for the jobs than myself."
"Glad you can understand." Faust answered back. "Now then, should we name her as well, or should she remain nameless, considering what she will be."
"I think that she should bear a name." Richard answered back. "How about Mirela? From another tradition, this name relates to the earth itself. It would be fitting for one born from mud, as a pure aspect of it."
Faust merely grunts in approval, before Richard then turned to the homunculus. "Hey, you can hear and understand us, right?" Richard asked the mud homunculus. "Do you have anything to ask about us? We are willing to answer you anything, so long as it is appropriate."
"No... I do not." The mud homunculus answered back. "Are you both my fathers? Because if you have created me, then that should be right."
"Of course. Since you don't have a name for now, how would Mirela sound to you? It's a very beautiful name that associates to you well. How do you feel about it?" Richard asked her back.
"Mirela... I suppose that if the name actually works, it works." Mirela responded back stoically. "Now then, you said that you want to send me to work, don't you? Fine. If you need the money, I'll get you the money. But don't get me wrong, I don't expect you to take care of me that much, but you better get me a good room for all the work I'm doing for all of you."
"Yes, yes, we'll keep that in mind." Richard answered back, before turning to Faust. "So, she's not grating on your nerves for now?"
"She is fine, although she will need to change that attitude of hers eventually. She should be happy that she has work to do, considering that she should be accustomed to it." Faust answered back. "If she manages to get enough money to actually support us with a lot of extra money as income, then I might fulfil her request out of honour."
"There you have it. You'll have a room as great as you want it, so long as you keep working hard and well, Mirela." Richard responded back, turning to Mirela.
"Hmph. I see where you're going, second father." Mirela grumbled back. "Now take me to the village, I need some work to keep my mind off loitering around."
"You heard the girl, nearest village, Faust?" Richard asked Faust.
"I...I don't have a clue." Faust admitted with a worried expression.
"That's fine, we can look around. Come with us, Mirela." Richard stated.
Mirela merely nodded, before the three of them left the house, as Faust locked up the door with his keys, before they then made their way through the forest. As they did, Richard noticed that Mirela was leaving behind a large mud trail, as she was fairly unhappy about it.
"Is there something wrong, Mirela?" Richard asked back.
"I can't stand the fact that everywhere I walk, I keep on losing parts of myself." Mirela growled. "Sure, I've already regenerated what I lost several times over, but it's still so annoying!"
"I see. How about if I try this..." Richard answered back, before he then raised a hand and let out a gentle flicker of flame that hit Mirela's lower half, as she let out a howl of pain, as part of her lower body was dried up into solid mud. As soon as the process was done, Richard quickly applied ice to cool the heated mud, before he then dispelled the ice himself, before he was met by the sight of a very irritated Mirela.
"Are you trying to hurt me? That really did! Do you even care about me!?" Mirela shouted back, which caused Faust to become a little bit irritated.
"Listen here, you sorrid crea-" Faust growled, before he was stopped by Richard putting a hand in front of his mouth.
"No, I should have told you." Richard answered back. "Faust, Mirela isn't wrong to be angry with what I have done. But still, Mirela, this should help with your problem of leaving your own mud everywhere. At least, it should help stop most of it from going everywhere."
Mirela was sceptical about Richard's help, as she moved a bit, as she was able to move as normally as she did before, except that she was leaving behind almost no mud at all. After Mirela realised the effect that his help brought, her mouth moved into a faint smile.
"Well... I guess that you actually do have a bit of care for me. Fine, I guess that a little pain is worth not having all the trouble of leaking my mud everywhere." Mirela relented. "Let's go."
Faust looked at Richard with a puzzled look on his face briefly, before he then followed them. They eventually made their way to the front of the village, as there were no guards by the entrance, which made Richard slightly tense, although he didn't let that make him paranoid about the environment around here.
Richard then looked around as he could see that the village was quite normal, despite the fact that Richard couldn't help but feel like that this town has a bit of a macabre atmosphere to it.
"So this is where all the other people live..." Mirela stated. "They look like that they have fairly good places to live in. You better give me something at that level for me, because I'm going to be working hard to get it."
"Odd... This place... It feels new to me, but somehow, within the throes of my mind... I feel like that I have been to this place before..." Faust answered back, before they encountered a blonde woman that was dressed up like a shopkeeper.
"Are... Are you not Faust? Where have you been!? Are you back in business?" The woman demanded, before she noticed Richard. "And who is this man beside you, he looks fairly young and handsome for someone of the same profession as you."
Faust looks at the woman for a moment, as if he was trying to call up memories regarding her, while Richard walked in front and did a gentle bow. "Well met, fair lady." Richard answered back. "My name is Raison, I am temporarily in Faust's employ as a business partner of his. Forgive him if he is a little bit dazed, he has been through a lot over the past few days."
"Hm." The woman muttered back
"Well, it seems that I am back in business, as you say." Faust finally answered back. "Is there some way I can help you?"
"Then that is a joyous event indeed, if you are really back in business." The woman answered back with some relief in her voice. "You know, my husband has been pushing me to do things that I don't want to do. I think that your... creature there can replace me. In return, I will compensate you with the wage that usually comes with the job."
"Of course, although we'll have to see if the job fits." Richard nodded back, before turning to Mirela. "Mirela... If you could..."
"Don't ask. I'll do it." Mirela responded back briefly. "Take me, woman, and I'll get your work done as you like."
"Thank you. Be sure to return in the night where I reside in, when the work is done." The woman answered back.
"I will remember to do that." Faust answered back. "Come, Raison. Let us search for a task to keep us busy in the meantime."
"As you wish, Faust. How about we search for some ingredients for the transmutation circle?" Richard asked back. "No harm in stocking up for future tasks."
The two of them left the village, leaving Mirela to do her work with the woman.
At night...
Richard was studying Faust's book himself, as Faust has decided to pick up Mirela as promised. While he read over the book, he made sure that he was learning how to do the transmutation himself, as the specifics of the process were laid out for him to read, absorbing the information carefully and slowly.
When he heard the footsteps of Faust coming over, he quickly threw the book into a sukima, which dropped it back on the shelf where it belonged, while Richard opened up the door just as Faust was about to move his hand to the door-knob. When he looked outside, Faust was glaring at Mirela with disappointment in his eyes, while Mirela herself was a little bit angry herself.
"...I take it the job didn't go well at all, did it?" Richard asked back.
"She didn't do a good enough job to deserve the standard pay." Faust responded back heatedly.
"Not my fault that it was hard to arrange all that stuff! And I did try my best not to dirty her knives, with how many times she scolded me about it!" Mirela argued back. "If I knew that she was going to be all stingy about keeping her things clean, I would have decided to work somewhere else, where my help would actually be appreciated!"
"Raison... Please, deal with her. I have argued for long enough with this brat of a child." Faust answered back, before he then made his way to the stairs. "Whatever you do, just make it so that she can actually work well, please."
"It can be done." Richard answered back, as Faust left the room, before he then turned back to Mirela, who was crossing her arms with a hurt look on her face.
"If this is the only job that I can do, then how am I supposed to work well? I mean, I could try to get better, but there's still the other stuff I have to worry about!" Mirela grumbled to Richard. "Hey, second father, you're the one who looked all smart and clever. You better have a idea for this, because I don't want to end up doing ungrateful work!"
"I agree, this work is not suited for you." Richard answered back, with a hand on his chin. "But I doubt it's the only one here. In fact, a village like that has many jobs to sustain its community. With how you are, I would think that you would better doing work that would fit your headstrong attitude. I'm sure that there will be a job that will suit you. We just need to find one. Tomorrow, I will head out to town with you to look for it. If we really can't find a job, then I'll teach you to do this job properly. How does it sound?"
"...Fair." Mirela quietly responded back. "Fine, but where do I stay? It better not be somewhere run-down."
"Actually, the rooms here are not too shabby." Richard stated, before he then led her up to the first room, as Mirela got a look inside of it. "See, how does it look to you."
"It's fine, but I expect to make this room better eventually." Mirela sighed, before she then laid herself on the ground. "I think the floor is cool enough for me to rest on, and it's actually hard enough for me to actually be able to lay onto."
"Well then, goodnight, Mirela." Richard smiled, as he slowly closed the door.
"...Night, second father." Mirela responded back, which made Richard a little bit warm in his heart, before he then left Mirela to sleep on her own.
After about a week...
Faust was waiting for Richard to return, as he was sitting by the table, waiting for the black-haired savant to return. When he did return, he came back with a fairly happy Mirela, who had a chocolate bar shoved inside of her mouth and now wearing a short purple dress that seemed to fit to her slimy figure, as she looked quite happy with enjoying the sweet delicacy in her mouth, munching it gently. While smiling greatly, Richard dropped a bag of money on the table.
"Mirela managed to get us a fair lot of money for us." Richard answered back. "So I decided to reward her with some of the chocolate from the nearest store. Turns out our earthy girl has a bit of a sweet tooth, so it seems."
Mirela tried to say something, although her words were muffled by the chocolate in her mouth. Faust took the bag of money, as he looked at the satisfied homunculus.
"I suppose that you have a genius in you that can't be denied." Faust answered back. "To know the right job for a homunculi like her... It really benefited us. And with her happy, she's been working quite hard for us."
"Well, a good worker is a happy worker, so the saying goes." Richard answered back. "Plus, I think that she's warming up to us slightly. If we keep on garnering her goodwill, she's really do leaps and bounds for us."
"Yes... That is true..." Faust answered back, as his expression turned blank, before he then made his way upstairs.
Mirela watched as Faust went, before she then took out the chocolate in her mouth, her mouth turning to a frown.
"Hmph, so one father is a dead-beat, and the other is one that actually does work for me." Mirela grumbled, before she then turned to Richard. "I guess that beggars can't be choosers, so you told me. If I can have your care and love, who cares about that father? He's done nothing but complain about how I get mud everywhere. You clean it up regularly, so I don't get what he's angry about! It's just a little mud!"
"He's a bit touchy about his personal belongings being dirtied. After all I would feel the same, so don't do that unless you really want to anger someone." Richard responded back, as his tone turned stern.
"Sure, sure, whatever stops him from complaining." Mirela sighed. "Either way, you think that this chocolate is going to be enough to keep me happy?"
"Well, you look quite happy, don't you? So I'd say that it's fairly effective. But yes, you need some other means of gaining happiness." Richard smiled. "Tell me, Mirela, what do you desire from me or Faust?"
"Well, a game of tag through the forest sounds nice. It feels nice to run through the trees and on the rich earth." Mirela stated. "Plus, I bet that I can beat you, and those snotty brats who think they can win a game of tag against me! I can just slip across!"
"So you learned to use your body in a clever way." Richard chuckled. "I wouldn't be so cocky though, I won't make it easy to shake me off."
"Haha, just try me!" Mirela laughed heartily.
Richard sighed in happiness, before he could faintly hear the horrified cry of Faust, which alerted him immediately. He then made his way to the stairs. "Stay here for a moment, Mirela, Faust has some problems." He told Mirela.
"Pft, he deserved some with how he treats me." Mirela bitterly stated, as Richard ignored her tone, before then rushing to Arhea's room, where he heard the scream.
Richard then slammed the door open, seeing a panicked Faust over the body of Arhea, which looked a lot more paler and withered than before. He also noticed the evident smell of rotting flesh, as his nose creased slightly, but he was only slightly disturbed by the smell.
"...Her body is rotting, is it not?" Richard asked back.
"I don't need you stating the obvious to me now, Raison!" Faust desperately shouted back, whipping his head towards him, to show his frantic eyes. "You know magic, right? Do you know anything to rejuvenate or restore flesh to a more fresher or more intact state!?"
"...Afraid not." Richard responded back, before Faust broke down into hysterics hearing that, which caused him to slap the delirious alchemist out of his trance. "Snap out of it, Faust! Calm down, she's only starting to rot. There is still time to find a means to reverse the deterioration of the flesh, or at least delay it long enough to keep our experiment going!"
"Calm down... Yes, calm down..." Faust huffed, as his breathing slowed to a calmer pace. "The village... We can head there..."
"It's too late to check the village now. We'll try tomorrow." Richard answered back. "I'm sure that the village might have something useful for our current problem..."
Tomorrow...
Richard and Faust made their way to the village, as Richard already dropped off Mirela to her desired workplace, which was some sort of smithing factory, where her work was regulating the lava flow for the smelting chambers, something that she got used to quite quickly, much to the surprise of the supervisor of the factory. They roamed the village, before they found a large booth that was laid out in the middle of one of the alleys, standing out quite clearly.
When the two of them approached the front of it, they noticed that the shop booth was manned by a wizened old woman with long white hair, a purplish hooded robe over her body. Behind her was the various products inside the shop, as it contained all five kinds of the transmutation ingredients, water, clay, wood, meat and iron, as well as several pieces of furniture that looked quite mystical. She then noticed the two of them coming, as her expression turned to surprise for a moment, when her eyes met Richard. However, she quickly changed her expression to be calmly welcoming, although Richard noticed the change, which made him quite suspicious of the woman.
'Well now... Something tells me that she knows that I'm not supposed to be in this place.' Richard thought to himself.
"Greetings, young men." The woman spoke in a slightly raspy voice, before then turning to Faust with a pitying look on her face. "O dear, o dear, the rumour is true, my loyal customer is back from death... I presume."
"Wait, what, I died!?" Faust exclaimed in shock.
"He what?" Richard asked back with surprise, before he then turned to the old woman. "What nonsense are you spouting? One does not simply die and return to life!"
"More importantly, how do you know me?" Faust asked back.
"Ah yes, the memory loss." The old woman answered back. "As for you, young one, death is the least of worries around here. Not to worry then, I just know you. Let us skip the gibberish and get down to business. What do you need, old friend?"
"Old friend?" Richard repeated, before turning to Faust with a raised eyebrow. "...Faust, do you remember meeting up with someone like her before?"
"No, never." Faust shook his head in denial. "I need something for my.."
Richard then noticed that Faust was at a loss of words, before he then sighed deeply. "Well, I'll ask this straight. Do you have preservation balm? We have bodies to bury, but we don't want to risk wrath from the gods by burying them at the wrong time of the moon. Surely, you would know of that, would you?"
"Ah, and for the homunculi with you as well." The old woman nodded. "Well, you have looked for the right place then, old friend and company. I have preservation balm for humans, deceased villagers in particular, for the purpose that your friend has noticed. I have been stockpiling it for a while, so you can buy as much as you need for your... 'tasks'. I will even make this one batch free, with complimentary ingredients for your transmutation. Consider it a gift of goodwill and for your return to business."
Faust was left stunned for a moment, hearing the exchange between Richard and the woman, before he was snapped out by Richard elbowing him gently. "Oh, thank you for your genorisity." He replied back.
"Anytime, my old friend. Just remember to visit as much as you like. Preservation balm is not the only item that I have for sale here." The old woman responded back. "You may need more, but for now, this batch will do."
She then pushed a bowl of tinted cream onto the counter, as Richard took it in his hands. "The ingredients will be sent to your home by the night. Be sure to expect them." The old woman added.
The two of them left, as they made their way back to Faust's home.
A week later, inside Faust's home...
Faust was reading the book, as more of it was revealed to him, as he read over the new components, while Richard waited by the side, as he finished dabbing the preservation balm on Arhea's body.
"So, how goes the new findings?" Richard asked Faust, who closed the book.
"There is a way to restore her soul." Faust answered back. "You are right that forcing her to take an empty soul would do nothing at all. But there is more to it. The infusion ritual can only be performed at the time of a full moon, and the ritual requires the affinities to be 30% full at least for each of them... How do I interpret that, though?"
"I think that I can help with that." Richard answered back. "I have a bit of a ability sensing emotions, so I can use that as a rough estimate of the soul's capacity for each affinity. However, I doubt that it would be as simple as just filling the affinities with random amounts. Each soul has a unique combination of the four affinities, much like how each masterpiece painting use the same colours, but in different places, different mixtures and different amounts. We need to find the EXACT balance for her original affinities, in order to call our infusion a success."
"But how?" Faust asked back. "We don't have any information as to what the amounts would be."
"We'll have to trial-and-error then." Richard answered back. "First, we should test something first. Fill her soul to the brim with joy, and see how her soul reacts with a soul of pure joy. Depending on the results, I might be able to determine a much more accurate range for that particular emotion affinity."
"I see... But how do we know if we create Joy homunculi or not?" Faust asked back.
"We summon, we check the book, and see how it goes." Richard responded back. "Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't suggest using those materials that the shop-woman sent you for the transmutation."
"Why not?" Faust asked back.
"Because there is one thing I know that is the fundamentals of summoning." Richard answered back. "Do not mix and match with a dominant element, because that is a recipe for bad chaos and failure. Trust my word on this, it will bring you nothing but failure and misery. Keep the ingredients, and get some more of our own."
"Speaking of which... About the request that we have took..." Faust stated. "We need some mid-grade clay, so that we can gain a good payment and the trust of the villager who made it. But all I can find is this low-quality clay. Perhaps if we..."
"Not yet." Richard answered back. "She's not at the brim of her potential. Mirela needs to be nurtured both longer and more, before she can actually create the best effect on Arhea's soul. If it's good clay, then I will offer you another of my services... I can purify the elements themselves to make the ingredients much more valuable in quality and use. So if I use low-grade clay, I can merge and purify to attain the same results."
"Is it true that you can do that? How much would it cost your own magical power?" Faust asked, doubtful on the suggested method.
"Fairly little, so I can handle these requests. We only to sacrifice the homunculi if there are too many to keep with us." Richard answered back. "If they are happy with us, we could be flowing with cash, which only stands to benefit us greatly."
"A reasonable assumption, you have helped me along so well up to now, so I feel like that I can trust more of this work to you." Faust stated.
"Your offer makes me glad for your trust." Richard smiled back. "Now then... Let us rest for tonight, and wait until we summon the next homunculi to serve us for our quest to save your daughter."