Roselia was becoming more infamous every day. They were constantly attacking small bases of the organization's members. They were never caught. No one could seem to track them down either.
But, things were becoming too easy. They needed to step things up. Attacking th smallest of bases wasn't going to put any dent in the forces. They'd need to go to a higher scale.
That was how Lisa and Sayo found themselves scouting out a potential base to raid. It was a lot bigger than the others they had attacked. This one was going to require a bit more thought and planning.
"Alright. So, see the entrance anywhere?" Lisa questioned.
Sayo shook her head, "I don't see any way in or out. And, strangely I don't see any guards around either."
"That is strange. We better be on high alert then." Lisa said.
For a base like this, having no guards around was not a good sign. It was just too good to be true. There was something amiss. They just needed to find out what that was.
They searched around the base from a distance, but unlitmately came up with nothing. There was no demon in sight. Not a single one. They had found an entrance, but that was it. They had no luck finding any life.
"Should we... go closer?" Lisa questioned.
"I don't know. I'd like to but... it just seems really suspicious." Sayo replied.
"I think we can at least get a little closer without worrying that we'll be spotted." Lisa said, "Maybe we can see inside while still being hidden by the forest?"
"I guess it's worth a shot. Yukina probably would want us to do as much as we can here."
They cautiously moved closer. They got as close as they felt comfortable doing. They were still a little distance away, but they could see things a lot clearer now.
As they inspected the building, they noticed signs of struggle and distress. Like something had already attacked. That was not a good sign. What if whatever did that was still around? They could be in danger. But, curiosity was getting the best of them. They wanted to know more if they could.
"I think it's been abandoned." Sayo decided, "Seems like they got attacked by something and fled."
"Do you think it's safe to go closer?" Lisa asked as she scanned the area for signs of movement.
"I don't sense anything. There's no strong smells either. I think whatever it was is long gone. We should be safe." Sayo replied.
"Then let's see about getting inside. Maybe they left stuff behind that we could use?" Lisa suggested.
"I suppose we can try."
They walked up to the entrance. It was completely torn to shreds. It sent shivers down both of their spines. Just what creature had done this? What type of things was even that powerful?
"Could... could the organization be experimenting on something?" Lisa questioned as she ran her hand over the claw marks on the wall, "It seems like this was broken open from the inside."
Sayo examined the area by the entrance, "It does seem that way. Hopefully they have some documents to tell us. And hopefully they haven't also been torn to shreds."
"Let's see what's in here then."
"I don't want to be in here for too long. I don't like how it feels."
"I get what you mean."
They started searching around. There wasn't much other than distruction. Everything was destroyed. They didn't have much hope in finding anything to tell them what might have been going on in this place.
Sayo held out her arm to stop Lisa from walking forward, "Do you smell that?"
"It smells like... blood." Lisa gulped, "And a lot of it."
"It seems to be coming from behind this door." Sayo pointed to a door just a few steps farther.
"Should we... investigate?" Lisa wasn't sure they wanted to.
"We need to. It may hold the answers were looking for." Sayo said, "Believe me, I don't want to open it either."
"You can open the door..." Lisa didn't want to be the one to touch it.
Sayo took a deep breath and pulled the door open. Inside the room was... bad. There were dead bodies everywhere. Most were dismembered in some form. It was not a pleasant sight to behold.
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Lisa gagged.
"You can wait outside. I just want to quickly see if there is anything here." Sayo said.
Lisa nodded and stepped back. She couldn't handle the sight of all the bodies. Sayo barely could herself. She could feel her stomach churning as she stepped through the pools of blood. The sound it made was not pleasant at all.
Sayo found a broken glass case. It had once contained something, most likely. Perhaps that was the source of the creature that did this. It had come from here.
Sayo found a desk. She looked through it, hoping the find anything salvageable. There wasn't much in the desk. She could see a lot of papers on the ground. They were covered in blood. None were eligible anymore. There was no point in even trying to get them.
Sayo made her way out of the room. She paused at a cabinet. She didn't want to touch it, but there might be something useful inside. Sayo braced herself and opened the doors.
There were just random pieces of clothing it it. And a few broken boxes of... something. Sayo wasn't willing to investigate them farther. She wanted to get out now. The stench of the decaying bodies was starting to give her a migraine.
Sayo exited the room. Lisa came over to her, eying her up. Sayo knew her shoes were probably soaked in blood now. Her hands were covered in it too from touching the desk and cabinet.
"Are you alright?" Lisa asked.
"Yeah... the smell is giving me a headache, though."
"Let's get out of here. I doubt there's anything of use." Lisa stated.
They started heading back out of the building. Sayo hated the feeling of walking. The blood had seeped through her shoes and was now on her feet. It was not pleasant at all.
"You don't look so good, Sayo. Are you sure you're alright?" Lisa asked in worry, "It's okay if the room got to you. I'm not gonna judge."
"It's... the blood on my shoes..."
"We'll find a place to wash you off as soon as we can then."
They continued to walk. Soon enough, they made it outside. The fresh air was good for both of them. But, it wasn't going to be much help for Sayo.
"I think there was a pond close by..." Lisa tried to recall the surrounding area.
"Lisa... I... I feel like we're being watched."
Lisa paused, "What?"
"I just... I can't shake off this feeling ever since we got outside." Sayo said.
"We should get moving then."
"Let's."
They started making their way back into the forest. The sense of unease followed them. It definitely felt like they were being followed. They couldn't hear anything or see anything, but the feeling remained.
They soon found a pond. Lisa kept glancing around nervously. Sayo was very slow at cleaning herself off. She didn't like touching her shoes. Eventually she did get them off.
Sayo washed them off as best as she could. Next were her feet. That was easier to do. Then finally, her hands. Sayo had to go barefoot for now. Her shoes were soaked with water. That would just make a lot of noise if she walked in them.
"Ready?" Lisa asked.
Sayo nodded. They continued their walk back to the base. Sayo had to go slow. There was a lot of sticks and rocks on the forest floor. They were not pleasant the step on. She also did not want to cut her feet open by accident.
"Just a bit farther until we should be safe to fly." Lisa stated. She could tell Sayo was growing frustrated by the events of today.
"Good..." Sayo sighed in relief.
Soon enough, they could take to the sky again. That made their travel a lot easier. It also was good because the sense of being followed vanished as they took to the sky.
It wasn't long before they arrived back at their base. Upon entering, Yukina was there to greet them. She eyed Sayo up in confusion.
"It's a long story." Sayo grumbled as she plopped her shoes to the side.
"Did you find anything?" Yukina asked as they sat down in the living room.
"The base was destroyed by something." Lisa explained, "Seems like an experiment gone wrong."
"So, it's abandoned?" Yukins questioned.
"They either left or were killed." Sayo said.
"There were corpses?"
Sayo nodded, "An entire room of them."
"She investigated it so we had to wash off the blood on her shoes afterwards." Lisa explained.
"Ah. So, I'm guessing you didn't learn anything of use from the base?"
"Unfortunately if there was anything it had been destroyed by either the blood or the... thing." Sayo said.
"Any idea what this thing could be?" Yukina asked.
"You guys are back!" Ako and Rinko entered the room.
"Yes. We're back."
"Can we please finish the questioning before you ask them anything?" Yukina asked.
"Okay!" Ako took a seat. Rinko joined her.
"So... all we could gather was that this thing was very strong. It had managed to rip apart steel." Sayo said, "It most likely came from a glass case I saw in... the bad room."
"The organization has started doing experiments now... this is not good." Yukina sighed.
"I... I may know something. I don't remember where but I did... hear something about... an experiment." Rinko stated.
"What have you heard?" Yukina asked.
Rinko nervously fiddled with her hands, "I... I remember hearing... they had taken... a demon or two and... tried to insert different prototype genes... to try and create a... a very dangerous tool."
"Looks like they didn't account for the demons turning against them." Ako commented.
"Are you telling us there might've been two demons that broke out of there?" Sayo questioned.
Rinko nodded, "Yes... they... took two incase the first one... failed to survive..."
"So we now could have two extremely dangerous demons on the loose who very well could kill us in seconds..."
"Did you see them at all?" Yukina asked.
Lisa shook her head, "No. The place was destroyed at least a week ago. But, we did feel like we were being watched at some point."
"Keep an eye out. We need to be on high alert if this is true." Yukina stated.
"Understood."
"So..." Ako said, "Are there gonna be any other bases we try to attack?"
"As of now, none are in close enough range. It would mean being gone for a day." Yukina responded, "There was a small outpost they were putting up. I'm unsure if we will do anything to it or not as of now."
"Okay."
"Well, I'll start cooking some dinner for us." Lisa got up.
"Can I help?" Ako ran over to her.
"Sure." Lisa smiled and nodded.
The two of them went into the kitchen.
"I'm going to change. I can still smell the blood on my dress." Sayo got up and went to her room.
Yukina and Rinko were left. Neither made a move to leave. Rinko was staring at her hands. Yukina was staring at her.
"Rinko? You've never told us where you came from."
Rinko froze up. That was the one thing she couldn't tell them. Well, she could tell them a half-truth.
"I... I've suppressed the memories... it was very traumatizing... in my past..."
"I see. Your group was attacked?"
Rinko nodded, "Yes... and I... I lost my family in it..."
"I'm sorry. It must be tough." Yukina said, "I won't ask too much about it. But, why did you leave the group?"
"I was kicked out." Rinko didn't need to lie about that, "They saw me as... useless."
"You're anything but that." Yukina replied, "You've grown a lot since you came here. I can see you have a lot of potential."
"I don't like... fighting..."
"I would assume not. I won't ask that of you yet. But, do you think you might be ready to try a mission?"
Rinko looked at her in surprise, "A mission?"
Yukina nodded, "Yes. Similar to what Lisa and Sayo had gone on. Would you be willing to try a scouting mission?"
Rinko thought about it, "I... I don't know..."
"Could I go on a scouting mission?" Ako popped her head into the room.
"No. You're too irresponsible to do that." Yukina shook her head.
Ako pouted, "I could do it!"
"No. If we do wish to scout out the new outpost, you are not the one going." Yukina gave her a firm look.
Ako frowned, "Please, Yukina? I could do it! And it's a really easy one. Wouldn't you at least trust me with that?"
"Ako, the last time we sent you out on your own to just simply remark our borders, Sayo ended up having to rescue you from a ditch that you got stuck in." Lisa reminded her.
"I... fine..." Ako knew she didn't have a good case.
"I promise one day you'll get to do that. Just... you need to prove yourself capable of just getting around our territory first." Yukina said.
"Okay..." Ako returned to helping Lisa cook.
"Yukina? Um... I think I'd like to test my capabilities before doing a mission." Rinko said, "I... don't know how I'll handle the forest."
"Of course. We can arrange a time to practice navigation and the likes. Are you going to test your wings at all?" Yukina asked.
"They don't hurt when I move them... so I think I'll try to fly." Rinko nodded.
"Alright. How about tomorrow we start that?"
"It... sounds good to me..." Rinko agreed.
It was time to see if she was able to handle the changes. Learning to get around with only one eye was hard. Having 50% of your vision wasn't easy to adjust to. Hopefully she could adapt quickly. She wanted to try and help out Roselia.