Chapter 31: I Solemnly Swear to Never Tempt Fate

"YOU NUMBSKULL!" Nell yelled and punching his partner's face with no remorse despite the still bleeding head he had on the back of his head. "THREE! THREE-FUCKING-TIMES DID SHE ESCAPED HERE IN TOTAL. THAT IS THREE TIMES TOO MANY YOU NUMBNUT!" Nell roared, followed with another punched to the eye.

"Oooww...but Nell, there were outsiders that I hadn't accounted to. What was I supposed to do?"

"Act what guard does what best. Guard from them!"

"But it was five-to-one Nell."

"No excuses!" Nell ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair and was close to pulling it out, "If we don't get out now before that woman comes, then she'll-"

"She'll what I wonder?" said a cool soft voice yet managed to penetrate the guards like a knife through their spine. They turned in terror when the arrival of one of their superior came.

She was a woman most would say, has a voluminous body. Wearing a blue bodysuit with high thigh, and wearing long blue high heel boots. One hand wearing a black mace. Her dark red hair easily mistaken as black flowed down and covering one corner of her face, bright red thick luscious lips, the beauty mark under her lips, the purple eye shadow that matched her eyes.

She smiled, a beautiful small smiled but had a hidden promise of cruel and unusual pain, "Hello Boys."

. . .

It took quite a while before I could grasp any sense of realism. Had anyone told me that minutes or hours had passed while I stood and staring stoically up at the death menace flying down upon the island, I would have believed them. The world went silent when all I could hear was the beating of my head roared next to my ear. My body tensed and glimpse of images flashes before my eyes like a cruel reel movies. One that I never wanted to relive.

'KAKAKAKAKA!'

People screaming, buildings falling, blood pooling, fire burning.

Body laid everywhere, Jen and Jon crying over their brother's corpse.

'Leave us alone!'

Nick standing up to protect me, his skin reflecting the light surrounding us.

My throat strained from screaming.

Zancrow cruel leering face.

Black fire searing through my skin and pain, pain, nothing but pain.

'Jupiter...fired!'

"Nick, what are you doing?!"

My thoughts were snapped away from the memories in favor of looking back at Nick. I shouldn't have been surprised by his reaction to them, but I did anyway. I've seen Nick pissed when any one of us tried to tease or mocked him. I've seen him angry when we fought jackasses during the course of our trip. But this? This was beyond being angry.

Nick. Was. Furious.

What was etched on his face could only be called pure and utter hatred. It was a face I had never imagined Nick was capable of making. It shouldn't have been surprising after what he had been through, but it did.

Ethernano was whistling around him like a soft blowing wind, his skin began to glisten in crystallized form, even the ground sprouted crystals around his feet making the others too hesitant to get closer to him.

"Grimoire Heart," he snarled.

I could already figured what he had in mind and practically teleported in front of him. Grabbed his collar and pulled him down to the ground.

I should have figured he hadn't had his mind straight yet and was no less volatile because it took an instant for him to fight back and throw me off him. Followed by a barrage of crystal missiles being aimed that I had to dodge.

Only to get led on to a spot where a bunch of tall crystal pillars coming out of the ground in circle around me. Criss crossing one another to make an irregular wall of crystals that might have admired the beautiful cage surrounding me if I wasn't the one being trapped in it.

I eased myself out by teleporting behind Nick and pulled him by the neck, in a choke hold. Though don't take that small scrawny build he had for granted because then you wouldn't have expect him to pushed me to a tree. Trapping me between his dragon slayer-enhanced strength and a prickly tree bark digging into my skin. And even if you had, you still be caught surprise because I've trained with the kid for years and I could only attested the what his berserking rage was like.

"Nick, are you insane?!" I heard Zeffik cried, his shock laced thick in his tone.

Both of us ignored him in favor of punching the other. I lifted my legs and put the sole facing the tree and used the force it projects to throw us off. We jumped away from one another amidst our fall and wasn't afraid to admit how unnerving seeing Nick looking so angry at me.

"STAY OUT OF MY WAY!" he growled.

Yeah, not a chance Nick.

I requip my dagger and began throwing consecutive barrage of them, but Nick knew enough about my playbook to erect a shield instead of dodging, and then whirling around behind him to clashed my dagger against his crystal spike jutting out of his arm.

I was only about a touch away from immobilizing him but Nick knew it was important to keep my distance. One touch from me and I could do the unspeakable things to him...okay, that made me sound like a pervert. So he jumped away to the side and I knew his familiar stance when he used his roar.

Normally, I would have come up 101 ways for me to dodge, block, or counter that pesky strong move of his. But I wasn't going to drag his angry spree so I gritted my teeth and forced my way through the whirlwind tornado of crystal shards, making me hissed in their stinging bites until he cut off the move midway from surprised. I made an uppercut and had him bit his tongue. Grabbing his face and pushed him down to the ground. Finally managed to requip the word "Bind"

And yes, you read it right, I said requip. Although summon is not a far of term to what I used, but essentially my newest working in rune was revolutionary for me. Like how I could teleport words, I figured if I had wrote words in advanced, copy them, then stored them in a pocket dimension like my daggers then I would have no problem using them in an instant during my beck and call.

I heaved a loud sigh of relief at finally putting him down. I looked to find both Heart and Spade had blocked the others from interfering, "Thanks for not letting them get involved Spade, you too Heart Kreuz."

She scoffed, and rested her hands on her hips, "I've had experienced dealing with battle hardened warriors, I know a personal battle when I see one."

"And from Nick's reaction..." Spade added, relaxing his muscle now that the fight was over, ...I'm guessing he has a personal history with this particular guild."

"YOU GODDAMN RIGHT I HAVE ONE! WHICH IS KILLING EVERY PIECE OF SHIT THAT JOIN THEIR MOTHERFUCKING GUILD!"

"I think the answer should be obvious enough," I huffed out. My words got him to turned his piercing glare at me. His body thrashing about the ground in hope he could get up and break the bind through sheer will though to no avail, "You might want to calm down before I could get the bind of you."

"Why the hell are you, of all people, getting in my way?!" he roared out, "You know better as I do what kind of scum they are! That anyone who bears their mark doesn't even deserve to walk on this earth."

I shuddered at his words and looked down at him, I was betting I was looking horrified to him. I knew the memory of that day had been beyond traumatizing. But for him to spout out words of hatred like this, turning the kind brave boy I took into someone barely recognizable, it put me in discomfort to say the least.

Nevertheless, I schooled my expression and bluntly told him, "It is exactly why I know what they're capable off that we're getting off this island pronto...once we know how exactly."

To my surprise, it wasn't just Nick who cried out in protest but the woman blacksmith, the one who had been trapped in this island with no one but her captors. She came up on me pulled me close by the collar so she could snarled at my face, "You're going to run? After everything you must have gone through to get me, you're going to abandon me now that things get difficult Coward!"

Anger flared within me and it was only practicing to school my emotion did I managed to temper it down and not spat in her face, "Hey, hey, hey! Watch it! I never said anything about abandoning you. I'm saying we all need to get the fuck out of here and never set foot on this island again if we could help it. Unless you wished to die a horrible death by staying than you can count on us out. So frankly, your opinion doesn't matter when I drag you out of this island."

Heart's jaw dropped in indignant at my bold plan of forcing her to come with me, "You can't do that! You have no right-"

"At this point, I don't give a shit about right. We're getting out of here and that's final.

She didn't hide the disgust lace in her tone at the next words she made, "So escape from one captive only to get captured with another, how are you any different to them?"

I almost wanted to laugh at her audicy to compare me to them, "At least I'm trying to keep our asses alive. Now, I'm usually try to act as gentleman as I can to ladies, especially one who had experienced horrid days like you, but for now I'd politely request for you to shut your mouth."

"Hey!" Spade shouted. I was ready to face his anger or even his judgmental look, but instead his face contorted worry and afraid toward me-no, that's not quite right, he was afraid for me. "Ro-Captain, calm down. I know you and Nick must have some history with them for you to act like the way you are now, but how about you tell us why and have Heart tell her side of why a sane woman like her would want to stay in this god-forsaken-island."

It was only from his words that I began to be too aware of the burst of speed of my beating heart and cold sheen of sweat dripping on the back of my neck. I cursed Spade for making me aware of the feeling I had tried so put it at the back of my mind. Trying to get a hold grasp of my emotion and putting me aside from becoming the subject, I almost plead for Heart to explain her reason. I had hoped she wouldn't notice the bit of desperation in my tone, but I couldn't quite tell from the scowl she had if she noticed it or not.

But then Heart tucked her down, but didn't hide the sad and helpless emotion she had. "Alright...alright...sorry if I freaked out on you guys but I have my reasons."

"Which is…?"

"I was getting to that!" Heart scowled at me, "Anyway, as you might guess, I was kidnapped because of their interest of my...blacksmith days. I had long abandon those days and worked my way as a fashion designer and swore off in making weapons when-"

"Uhh…"Spade cut in nervously but not at all ashamed, "I know you have your background to share, but I think it would best cut to the chase." Zeffik made that cue to slapped him by the back of his head. He didn't so much as flinch as he looked back at his long time friend, "Sorry, was I being rude again?"

His best friend winced a bit, "Yeah...kind of…"

The glare Heart made would have burned a hole at her brother-she-hadn't-realize-yet, and continued, "You want the short story? Fine! The dark guild had specifically "requested" me to make an armor for one of their top guild member of theirs."

My breath hitched at the revelation and hastily make a T sign to stopped her talking, "Wait. Wait. When you say "Top member", do they happened to call themselves the 7 Kin Purgatory?"

The brief annoyance she had was cut off by a thoughtful one, "Huh, now that you mention it, they do."

It took every will in my body not to slammed my head to the nearest hard surface I could find, "Riiiiiight, any chance you might know who has the interest in wearing your custom-made armor?"

Heart bit her lips and unintentionally turned her gaze away, "How about we talk and walk. The situation is worse than you imagined so it's going to be a long talk. And the name of the mage is-"

. . .

"Missus Whitstark, you came early." Nell almost squeaked out the word.

The bombshell of a woman stood passively, her gaze switching between the two guards and had to resist a sigh escaping her, "Out with it, what had our little prisoner done now?"

They tensed from her words, while she may look unbothered by the situation. They knew that one wrong word would result a world of pain on their side. Just the reminder of it sent shivers down their whole body.

"Uuuh...well...she...aaa...there's not much a way to tell this that would make it easier but...aaa…" Nell kept on trailing words, just to postpone the inevitable a while longer.

His partner in crime however, is having none of that nonsense and got straight to the point, "She escaped from our watch, we're sorry Missus." Gage's word were blunt but there was an underlying terror he was aware awaiting for him .

Missus only reaction, was a raised eyebrow, "Again? My, I thought I had curbed that little smith's rebel streak. It would seem my punishment is still a bit lacking." One would think she was expressing annoyance or boredom from her choice of words, but anyone who knows her long enough would spot the hint of thrill in her voice. "So...I'm curious, how did she escaped this time?"

They gulped, the forbidding conversation was here. Nell began stuttering his answer again and Gage wasn't brave enough to cut to the chase once more.

Missus Whitstark rolled her eyes and was becoming impatient, "Answer the question!"

"Urk!" Nell felt his tongue tensed then loosened in a matter of second, yet his mouth move without his permission, "An unknown group had infiltrated the base and freed the prisoner."

The playful smile she had dropped by the revelation. A scowl that would make most men enamored by her fair beauty (you could say her angry face makes her more attractive), "Correct me if I'm wrong," then as fast as a striking cobra, her hand snapped up to Nell's throat, squeezing him any access of air. "Are you suggesting there are other people in this island. An island we specifically choose to avoid any outsider?"

"We...hurk...we don't know where they came from. They just appeared and broke her out! BUT! But...they didn't leave without the armor and far as I know, she's fully finished so... please don't kill me," he whimpered the last word, tears threatening to break at the corner of his eyes.

At his plead, Missus loosened her hand and Nell's relieve broke out in a sigh. Only to stiffened once more when the back of her hand began to trail down his cheek in a soft an intimate gesture, "I see. It would seem we can't help from being guarded by the unexpected "guests" we have. Interesting, but unexpected. One we cannot have while they still roamed around the island." Missus turned to the rest of the many grunts that guarded the small base of their hideout, "Find them! Find them and disposed them, but make sure to keep Heart Kreuz alive!"

Her order was responded by a flurry of haste movement to do exactly as she ordered. Her passive face turned into a smile, "Thank you for informing this. While it was your job to make sure this doesn't happen again, it would have been quite difficult to anticipate a team of intruder and with that, I forgive you."

All the tension withholding Nell began to dissipate, closing his eyes in gratefulness. Had he took the time to look back at his partner, he would noticed the passive but tensed expression on his face. But he didn't have the chance to do even that before Missus edged closer until she could breathed out next to his ear, and whispered in a slow and sensual tone, "Bite off your tongue."

Nell blinked, dumbfounded by the order that he could only say "Eh?"

The next thing that happened was...well...let's assume there's no way for me to describe the gory scene without turning this fic M rated.

The scream went on for more than many minutes and Gage had ignore the painful sound, turning his back away to follow the Missus because...well...she asked him to.

. . .

"Hold your tongue right there!"

Heart rolled her eyes even as she kept navigating us through the dense woods, "Clearly you're not going to stop interrupting me."

"Hell yeah I will when you just told us this "Missus" could essentially mean she can make us do whatever the fuck she wants with only her words!" Fortunately, Zeffik wasn't chiding me for my language when he was struggling to carry a binded Nick who wouldn't stop squirming. I've got to hand it to the kid that he was even capable to even moving under my spell.

"Yes, I think I've mentioned that already. May I continue?"

I was tempted to say no. Because fuck, a charm speaker is one of the top list of people I do not want to be an enemy with. They can either be one of the two; an annoyance or deadly OP. This is clearly the latter.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Okay, okay, just one more question. Why the hell would someone like that wants an armor? Her magic...ability...whatever it is, is not compatible with weapon combat and I bet she's already formidable enough without it."

Heart raised an eyebrow at my question, surprised at how clever it was before turning solemn, "If you're asking me if she's qualified to use it then yes, she definitely can."

My heart sank further from her words and despite what I would feel, I had to ask, "This armor, I have to know, what exactly can it do?"

Heart became just as deflated as me before opening her mouth to answer, "I called it The Valkyrie. It's an armor I designed for not only enhanced strength and speed. But also force field protection from physical and magical attacks. The weapon I equipped her with can control wind, lightning, and with enough ethernano, even earthquakes. Then there's the fact it could make you levitate and-" her voice became smaller as she listed all the quirks of her newly built armor and felt the tinge of despair we all felt as the list went on.

One part of me is impressed by her skill work as a blacksmith to make such powerful armor, and no one less than an S-Class mage could wield it. Yet another cursed her for it too. Okay, so OP magic combined with an OP armor. I knead my forehead to keep the impending headache at bay. Holding back my indignant questioning of why she would need to make that powerful of an armor. Seriously, can this get any worse?"

"Anything else you might like to add?" I groused.

Heart dunked her head and that was all the confirmation I need before she utter the next few words, "Unfortunately there is. As strong as the armor I made is…I haven't gotten to the main reason of why I had to made that abomination."

. . .I really should have known by now that things can get worse, "Explain. Now!"

. . .

Gage stood and watched in bright red blush that would have rivaled with a tomato as Missus changed right in front of him into the custom made armor. Not caring the slightest who was watching her, "Uhm...pardon me if I may be so bold Missus."

Missus sighed and made a show of waving her hand, "Only because you're one of the most tolerable of the lot, proceed Gage."

"Uhh...yess...uu…" it was difficult to talk while he was so distracted by her yet he made no attempt to look away, even when blood began seep down his nose, "What exactly is so special about the Heart of the Sky? I mean, all the record shows that anyone who holds it will be cured from any ailment...but at the price of eventually turning to stone, even to those who's at perfect health. The curse holds to anyone who touches it. It's a gift and a curse in equal measure, not very worth it if you ask me."

Missus chucked, holding the back of her hand to her mouth to hold back her mirth at bay, "Is that what you truly think that's what is all capable off?"

"I'm sorry?" Gage was at lost.

Missus fastened the last strap of her armor and turned. She didn't need a mirror to know she looked good. It looked more like a dress than an armor, with its dark azure colored metal plate keeping her breast in place, a black skirt that flow down and reached to her ankle from the back of her legs and above her knee on the front, a pair of gauntlets that shaped her fingers into claw-like shape and a set of plated boots rising up all the way to her knee, a northern-style helmet that sported wings from beside it, and the get-up was completed by the long axe on her hand, looking ready to cut someone's head off.

"Tell me, have you ever wondered why the Heart of the Sky was quarantined in this island?"

"It's not my place to ask question," Gage promptly answered, making her chuckled.

"Indeed," Missus moved out of the cell and deeper to the bowl of the base, Gage keeping up from behind her. "For one must know the past to understand the present. Or in this case, the sheer magnitude of power within that orb," she unconsciously licked her lips just from the thought of it.

"What of its history?"

Instead of answering right away, they stopped at a giant two-side door. It wasn't part of the original blueprint when they built their base but was instead attached to an older building. One that most guards were forbidden to even look if they don't want risk dying a horrible death. Gage glanced nervously at the Missus, but found she didn't quite care if he was here or not and was still amusing his presence.

"Record shows that there was inhabitants living in this island once, and I'm saying this when the island was a normal one."

"Wait...you don't mean-"

. . .

"-the island was normal once? Like actually rooted on the sea and not stuck in this..." Spade finally said something to her while gesturing to the surrounding general, "...weird limbo space we're in right now."

Heart made a hard long stare at Spade, making him bristled as he tried - not so subtly - looking around to avoid eye contact with her. I still have no idea why he wasn't going for the big reunion hug he wanted, but I guess the family drama has to wait until we get out of here.

"To answer your question," Heart finally piped up, "yes, it was indeed a normal island once with normal people living in it, and carrying on with their normal lives."

I noted the paused and had a rising suspicion what she had in mind, "I'm guessing there's a but in there." Because why the hell not.

The sigh she let out was answer enough, but didn't say anything as I hoped. Instead, she pushed aside the last shred of layer of leaves until we were struck horror by the sight.

Let me describe the scene on by one so not to overwhelm you. First there was a giant hole in the middle of the clearing, if you ask how huge then think of a nice house for an average middle class family. You can even try to think of your own house if you want. That hole can easily swallowed it up. Oh, and I meant that literally because even from a distance I could tell the deep dark abyss that went on down and down below to nothingness.

Oh but that's not the worst part, I barely noticed the first thing when the second one made me gacked. Try picturing an assortment of dead bodies; from decayed, to skeleton, mutilated, charred and I think some were left with just their guts. All of them was laid on their back, surrounding the hole in a carefully positioned place, as if they were sacrificed for some unholy ritual to the King of Hell below had they believed they lived there.

Then that's when the third thing happened, something so unbelievable it almost convinced me I was insane.

The corpses disappeared.

Like, one second they were there. The next...gone. Poof! And I thought things can't get creepy enough. The only reason I knew I wasn't seeing things had been Heart's next words.

"Judging by your expression I see that you've seen the dead bodies, and before you ask if you've gone mad, you're not. It's just one of the island's mysteries. It took me the tenth time seeing it until I convinced myself I wasn't seeing things, and it never stopped giving me chills."

"Wha...what the hell is that?!" Spade exclaimed, his face ashen like he had seen a ghost which in a way, he did. Zeffik was trembling on the knee but did his best not to look horrified. Hope had fainted, and Nick paused his squirming to looked wide eye at the would be scene.

"Like I said, no idea. And frankly, as long as it doesn't come alive and try eating my brains. I don't care," Heart stated in a flat tone, but if one observed more, you could spot the trembling lips and the cold sweat sheened her forehead. "Let's go, I think seeing the bigger picture would help."

Reluctantly, we followed behind her as she approached the hole that spells in big fat red sign that spelled "TROUBLE" and none voiced any complaint. She picked up a thick branch along the way and with a summon of a magic circle, lighted the wood with fire. I thought she was trying to use it as a torch, but instead she threw it to the hole, and we watched in awe as the flame disappeared but then began crawling up around the walls like a stream flowing and spiraling upwards. Revealing a steady steps of staircase spiraling down and down. So I might have exaggerated a bit about the abyss thing but it was damn well close enough because even the dim blue light scorching the walls wasn't enough up what was below.

"Do we have to climbed down? I don't want to climbed down. an we just think the shade is great, why not we rest on the shade? Doesn't that sounds nice? Anyone?" Zeffik asked around but found he was completely ignored, and the others had already started descending down the stairs leaving him alone with a binded Nick and a fainted Hope. Zeffik had half a mind to wait for them to come up eventually and made Nick deadpanned at him, "You really want to stay alone with us two where we just saw a pile of corpses that disappeared into thin air because of god-knows-what?" Nick didn't need to finished what he says before Zeffik became barreling down to follow us.

I didn't pay them much attention when my eyes were glued to the walls. They weren't just normal walls build on building blocks… Well, technically they are but I'm telling you there's more than that. Because you see, they were carved. Not in an aesthetic way, mind you. While it does has its own artistic way of viewing, seeing a giant carved painting was a whole 'nother grand magnum opum. Humor me again, imagined one of those large graffiti you would spotted in the city, painted on the side of a bridge, on the roof, on the side of buildings, anywhere you never thought that people would waste their time doing to pick dangerous places just to deface public properties. Imagined that mind boggling feeling and amplified it a thousand times more as you replaced mere spray paint with delicate carving of an artisan, and with the size that would have shamed the football field in one of the NFL stadium because that barely be enough to framed that picture. That's how big it was.

Okay, for the picture itself it was straightforward enough. An island with people living, farming, hunting, and celebrating with an Aztec style drawing. Then as we went on, around and around down the hole the picture shifted into a temple where the people bowing down to a priestess that has a lion hat, and holding a round orb or some kind over her head. Cliche, but alright. Then below them is a sleeping lion, and it showed how big it was compared to the tribes people, having wings and sharp pair of gazelle horns.

Is it me, or is there a repeated theme of lion going around in my life?

The carvings continued with more wit the lion depiction. And uhh...this is more abstract but I'm guessing that the lion is the depiction of their god-maybe? Because it looked like the lion managed to grow trees from dead soil, summon wind out of thin air, quell fire with the flick of its paw. In simple terms, that is one badass lion and put all other lions in existent to shame. The priestess was drawn in the same light, making them looked like they were in equal stand. Then however, I noticed that the same orb-looking thing held by the priestess was carved on the lion's chest...or maybe it's something else entirely but both orb had some swirl design on it so I doubt that.

"By now you must be looking at the god of creation, Zatur."

"God? You mean...those magical deities that could shift mountains, split seas, in charge of time, arrogant as shit, that kind of god? Or the omnipotent-capital-G kind?"

The rest of my friends were put to silence by my words, until it was broke with Nick forced laugh, "Oh come on Aniki, enough with the jokes. I mean...god? Really?"

"The former. Though hearing their stories, I'm not sure if there's a difference," her nonchalant response managed to shock the rest more and enough to make their collectives jaws dropped. She motioned her hand to point out a specific picture, where series of priestess probably the line of their successor for the past hundred years until the last one was portrayed to be in battle with the so-called-lion-god himself.

"What-"

. . .

"-is that?!" Gage couldn't help exclaimed. They had opened the enormous gate to a small hexagonal room. With a small pillar in the middle that held a glowing blue orb, with swirl design on it. The color itself seemed to shift into various version of blue and just from basking from its present can he feel a power beyond human comprehension compressed in a small space. His brown eyes reflected the hypnotizing blue glow, mesmerizing him, beckoning him to touched it.

"Don't even think about it unless you want to turn into stone," Missus soft warning was as clear as day as it echoed the room.

"Then...that is…"

"The Heart of the Sky, beautiful is it not? No wonder people touched it despite the consequences."

"It is. But Missus, what you said...about the god, Zatur being worship in this island for a long ass time. Then what? The people revolted against it?"

"Not much detail can be said other than the Priestess decided Zatur was having its selfish way with its people, oppression, and brought constant destruction. Had the god not offered part of its soul in the form of this orb then the Priestess wouldn't have stand half a chance against it."

Gage gawk at the her as if she had just told him to slapped himself, "Soul?! Bu...but that...then this…"

"I'm just telling you what the record told us. It doesn't necessarily means it's literally a god's soul or even if what they worship is really a god."

"God...I'm still reeling from my existential crisis knowing that they're even real in any shape of form."

"Just think of them as a monstrous species and you'll get over it quickly enough. Now where was I? Oh yes, the Priestess locked Zatur away and made a pocket dimension to locked the whole island away with it. Taking the orb for themselves and the rest is history."

"So is that what the orb is for? To control Zatur?"

Missus finally broke gaze from the orb and made a flat stare at Gage, "Hit yourself on the wall."

He didn't even questioned it when he turned his back and drilled his head through the brick wall, "Ooooooowwwww…"

Missus only huffed in response, "That's for asking stupid question. Haven't you been listening? If the orb could do that then the Priestess would have done that from the start? No, what that orb helds in its power is-"

. . .

"Infinite ethernano!" I cried in shock and trepidation, "You've got to be joking. Please tell me you're joking!"

"Oh, I wished I was. I wished I was," Heart said wistfully.

"Hmm," Hope finally spoke up after coming back from the realm of dreams, "is that bad-nyu?"

"Bad? Bad doesn't even cover it. We're talking about an eternal source of magic in a world where magic is everything. People would kill and even go to ward for it. In the hand of one person itself could cause the change a country as he or she so desires and I'm not exaggerating to say the danger is on a world level-hell, even on humanity itself."

"Bad," Hope concluded with a nod.

No shit Sherlock. And I thought Fairy Heart was bad enough already but I should have there's something equally as bad in this world. A pounding headache reverberates my head but kept the distracting pain at the back of my mind when we finally touched the last step of the stairs. The bottom floor revealed to be where they kept their shrine, lied between the feet of a giant sitting statue of Zatur. The shrine was styled the same of small Japanese shrine, quite an underwhelming when you've seen how grand the hole was.

"With the Sky's Heart wretched from his side, Zatur was weakened and doomed to reside in this island for all eternity. Yet his defeat came with a price. With his connection with the orb severed, so was his blessing, and anyone who touched it will be cured from all illness...only to wallow from a slow and cruel death in turning into stone."

"And that's!" Heart suddenly raised her volume, "is where I came in with a solution to their little "problem.""

She took a minute for us to processed her words and only Spade and me had realization dawned from the wide eyed sickened look we had.

"Your armor," I began slowly, holding back snarling at her and before I could continued, Nick cut in in his usual loud angry voice

"You gave that motherfucking-guild a way to hold that bullshit weapon to do as they pleased!"

Heart glared at us with a scowl, "Don't you dare turn this on me! They would have found someone else if I had refused them, and that's on top in not wanting to die, or worse tortured me. Which I might add, I had experienced a few in my time staying here."

"What?" Spade growled next to me, already his hand was pulling out his rapier only for me to stopped it by gently putting my hand on his.

"Sorry about that. There's nothing wrong for you in trying to survive yourself. But you're a genius blacksmith, surely you could have sabotage it in any way or something?"

"And then what? I'd like to remind you that I've been here for months," the reminder of how long she had been here made her grew solemn, "I lost hope of finding any kind of help a long time ago. So at the very least, I thought I could wear my armor before Missus," she said her name like it was a curse, "could come and escaped on my own." This time the glare she wore to the floor snapped back at us, and made us flinched, "until you meddling group had to ruin it all for me!"

"Well when you put it that way…" My words did not help matters and she looked ready to lunge at me and wringing my neck only for Erza to block her from me, holding her back. Sighing in relief, I said "Thanks Er-"

I was quickly cut off when she smacked me hard on the head, and damn doesn't she know what holding back means?

"What was that for?"

The flat look she gave me made it clear it should be obvious why I deserve that before looking back at her. "While our timing was not the best," she started, addressing Heart with a clear cut tone. Her back straight and head puffed out, her body language demanded anyone facing her to listen, "We're not going to apologize for trying to save you."

"Besides, if I heard right then you are not a fighter Heart Kreuz." Spade finally piped, finally daring to meet her eyes with his, "Had you been the one who used that armor, you would have barely be able to use it. Or worse, getting yourself killed."

For some reason, their words made Heart even more livid if the scowl she made making her face all wrinkly everywhere, not a very good sight, "And you talk like you're all a saint aren't you?"

Her sneer didn't go unresponded and Hope had the uncharacteristic way of being angry, and she's rarely angry if ever, "What's your big deal?! We tried to save you and this is the thanks we get?"

"Oooh...and I supposed it has nothing to do with wanting me for your own convenience?" The bewildered and our own angry expression were wiped, replaced with confusion and Heart wasn't finished, "You think you're all some kind of knight of shining armor but don't think you're act would fool me. I know people. You're saving me so you must know me I'm more than just a clothing designer so don't think I couldn't tell you want something from me."

"What?" Zeffik cried or almost sputtered out, "but that's not-"

"Save your petty excuses. So tell me, what exactly you want? A sword perhaps? One that could level the earth and split the wind? A bow that could never miss its target? Oh, or maybe you'd like a better armor than what I made for-"

"ENOUGH!" her tirade was cut short as Erza had enough of her and promptly punched her hard on the head, hard enough to make us onlookers winced. Heart bend down with her hand on her head, whimpering painfully before shooting the scarlet-haired woman an incredulous look. Her mouth had no words coming out, as if she never had someone punched her before.

"You hit me." It sounded like a statement rather than an accusement.

"In my guild, that's how we do things when someone was being an idiot," Erza scoffed and I was reminded once more of her famed anger that reflected her tittle as Titania - Queen of Fairies - famous for managing to quiet down the rowdiest guild in Fiore. "Now you listen here. Whether we have ulterior motive or not isn't even remotely important when we have a great weapon currently on the hands of a vile dark guild. So you can either woman up and actually try helping us to sort the problems we've been drag in or you can hold your tongue from your whining, sit here, and wait until we settle them ourselves. What's a better use of your time?"

All was silent at the Hole,other than the whispering of the wind, the quiet whisper of "buuuuurn" coming from Nick, the faraway squawking of birds from above, the sudden burst of blue light and the sound of what might be like a cannon firing and earth trembling.

….

Wait….what the Poe's fucking mustache!

Our heads snapped back up and the luminous blue glow at the edge of the hole. Heart snapped back up, her eyes blazing with fear but also of determination, "Come, we need to get back up." We followed behind her which led us to what I could describe a construction worker elevator. We jumped on it and Heart pulled down a lever that took us up toward the opening of the hole above.

Yet Zeffik had stopped short before jumping in, cocking his head in confusion, "If there was an elevator, why didn't we use it in the first place?"

His question was left unanswered as he joined us.

Next thing we know we were looking up at a great pillar of light, not that much different with Nirvana but with the color blue. The wind was blowing from enormous ethernano emitting from it, originating from what we could tell the base where Heart had been imprisoned for months. Most of us stared wide eyes at it, with our jaw slacked with suspicion on what exactly was happening at this very moment.

Because miles away from us, an armored woman was holding a blue orb in her hand, the room glowed, revealing an old ancient design carved on it that seemed to awaken from the moment she had touched it. The woman screamed but the sound shifted from painful terror into unceremonious joy, and she was then outright laughing-no, cackling like a loony person. The guardsman did his best to stay calm in the midst of all the outburst of raw power but then one word, one word was all she needed as the ground rise in her command. Gage was not ashamed to admit he flopped down on his butt and almost wet himself.

The silence within my own group was broke by my own words just so the tension could break, "Now I know I'm tempting fate and all, but I need to say that I'm more than positive there's no way having a murdered psycho dark mage having a hold of a powerful magic source could prove that the situation can get worse."

Had I could have time travel like The Doctor, I would have go back in time to bitch slapped myself then swore to sew my mouth shut if I ever try challenging Murphy-fucking-law ever again.

Because that was the moment when the floor at the bottom of the hole we were in began to cracked. A small one indeed. Then it began to spread further and further apart, reaching through the whole floor, the stone tiles even jutting out dangerously out that might poke through someone's feet had someone stood there. The cracked became worse when it was followed by a subtle rumbling that began to crescendo into a scale 5 earthquake until the floor became undone. Letting the altar and giant statue fall into the deep darker abyss below.

Yet it one would looked closer, you would find that even within the darkness, you would find the pair of glint of red eyes glaring over at the sky it desperately craved to reached for too long.

Followed with the desire for blood.

AN: If anyone is wondering is Missus is her actually name or a nickname or a title well. . . . that's for me to know and for you to wonder about. HA!

Also, I proposed a small game if any of you wants to play. If anyone can guess what character inspires Missus's appearance, then I will accept an OC or a requested scene if you want.

Have fun guessing and don't forget to R&R ^_^