An indescribable chill zipped through Ragna's and Rachel's bodies. Their cells scrambled, sounding every emergency alarm to flee no matter what the cost. The violet-haired woman hovered a few feet in front of them, soulless red eyes examining the pair. "My." A tone of amusement; her lips formed a dainty smile that one could almost call innocent if not for the malignant aura she exuded.
"Who the hell are you?" It wasn't like he couldn't figure out the identity of the woman in front of them, he just needed to free himself from her clutches, feeling the invisible hand restricting his throat lose its grip as he asked. Izanami. She was the person, the thing, that poisoned the world.
"It speaks." She regarded him the way a monarch did subhuman garbage, maintaining her elegant poise. The cold ghastly hand that gripped his throat earlier wrapped around it again, choking back any retort. "Welcome," she greeted them like one would any house guest. "I am sure you have already guessed. No need for pointless queries."
Rachel stepped up, a droplet of sweat trickling down her face once her eyes flickered to her. "Then allow me something I do not know. Where have you taken us? What is this place?"
Izanami eyed her surroundings, as if she didn't know where they were either. "A good question. I am unsure. Rest assured, I did not pull you here on my own accord, so your presence is mysterious indeed."
Ragna and Rachel knew what they had to do. The most obvious stratagem to execute would be to finish Izanami right here and now, end the nightmare plaguing the world, and leave. A sound, logical plan on all accounts to strike while the iron was hot. Yet seemingly against all infallible rationale they retreated when Izanami approached. Body betraying mind, the sense of impending danger flung them back before they could calculate an appropriate distance. Good thing they did, as three triangular devices stuck into the ground where they stood.
Unlike with Azrael, the creepily palpable bloodlust that secreted from every pore was absent from Izanami. Mechanical, capricious, the amalgamation of death itself regarded the two without a wink of passion beneath her chilling eyes. Killing intent clear as day lacked any malice, as if extinguishing them was just another part of her everyday. The unusual mechanisms returned to their master and connected to each other, forming a ring behind her. Purple modes of light dispersed from her fading regalia and revealed the ceremonial garb beneath it. Standing before them, the strange ring floating behind her like a halo, Izanami looked divine—the presence and disposition of a true goddess.
"Dispose of them, Yasakani no Magatama." The simple command launched the three weapons toward them. Ragna whipped his blade from his waist and deflected two incoming projectiles, each parry knocking him off his balance, leaving Rachel to cover the last one he couldn't. Izanami cut through the air that same second approaching them, whipping her leg out. They scattered, avoiding the kick that would have certainly taken their heads clean off. Just the force was enough to tear Ragna's shirt open at the chest level and cut Rachel's cheek. Had she connected, their heads would have flown across the space like soccer balls.
Izanami split off from her weapons, leaving them to keep Ragna busy. A flurry of kicks and palm strikes assaulted Rachel, so absurdly fast, if not for the wind behind her giving her an extra boost in speed, the scrapes and cuts on her clothes and face would be bruises and gashes. A defensive game wasn't going to net her any ground—each swing brought Izanami closer to landing a successful strike, the weight behind every kick and punch alerting her that one hit and it was over.
Ragna swore a new curse each time he knocked away one of Izanami's magatama's. Relentless, they switched up and adjusted their approach to find a way past his defenses. He couldn't help feeling all they were only playing with him. Embarrassing as it was to admit, they were punching well above their weight class. In the corner of his eye, he observed Rachel's struggle to maintain what little footing she had. She had a few scrapes on her face, clear that she had a few close calls. A few streams of lightning here and wind there were not enough to hold Izanami off. The blow that resounded within the space spoke for itself.
Nago and Gii moved quickly to guard their master but were inefficient to soften the kick that left Rachel breathless. The immediate roundhouse which followed after Izanami's faint pushed her innards back as an intense nausea welled up from the impact. She had gotten careless. The kick was powerful enough to blow her away, sending her rolling like a cardboard box.
"Rachel!" Ragna forgot his two opponents in his worry and they were glad to remind him. One smashed into his chin like an uppercut, knocking him off his feet. Everything went white for a moment as his head rang with pain. The second slammed into his side, the crunch of crushing bones resounding loud and clear, and sent him bouncing a few times on the ground before skidding on his face to a stop. S-shit...! He could feel the Azure Grimoire hurriedly repairing his body, his eyes refocusing, jaw restructuring, bones reconnecting. He attempted to rise and collapsed immediately from the pain. It hurt so much he couldn't help but laugh a little as if to soothe it, but it just made it worse. "Damn… Hey, you doin' alright over there, Rabbit?"
Rachel struggled to sit up with a bloodied cough, clutching her side. "A broken rib–p-perhaps two," she corrected after a sharp pain choked her. "But I have been hurt worse. Was the love tap she gave you too much?" She jabbed with a self-deprecating smile, omitting her internal bleeding, but the subsequent vomit of blood gave that away. Rachel refused to believe terror surfaced within her, the jibe she threw his way her will fighting the immeasurable pressure that tried to suffocate her.
"Says the one... still on her ass!" Ragna grunted onto a knee, wiping the blood off his busted lip. He went to face Izanami again for a second charge but she already stood in front of him, her small hand on his shoulder. It was an amateur mistake to underestimate someone's strength based on raw muscle, Ragna understood that well, but it felt ridiculous that arms no bigger than twigs held him in place with zero effort like a child. No matter how hard he tried to force his way out of her grip, Izanami matched his angered glare with one of cold indifference. However, his was merely performative; it was the only method he could think of to stave off insanity.
He encountered all kinds of crazies, deranged murderers and every blanket of evil under the book, but this was different. Looking into her eyes was driving him insane. So immobilized by the madness swimming in her crimson eyes he didn't realize her cold slithering fingers until they clutched his throat. All the strength Ragna had siphoned off; he didn't even have the mental fortitude to glare anymore.
"A shame." Izanami's hand rose to deflect a lightning bolt. Her eyes snapped toward Rachel, who wasn't at all shocked her attack had been blocked without so much as a wince of pain. With the same delicate movement Izanami placed her hand on Ragna's clavicle, she wrapped her hand around Rachel's neck and squeezed.
"Princess no!" Gii flapped his wings but it did no good.
"You get your filthy hands off our Princess, this instant!" Nago spat.
Izanami didn't recognize the shouts and cries of Rachel's familiars and addressed the pair callously. "Perhaps you could have delayed your deaths a bit longer in another circumstance. Alas."
"Then what are you waiting for? Are you one for foolhardy blustering?" Rachel knew all she needed to do was squeeze a little harder to snap her neck like a twig. She barely managed to force out the last sentence, the force strangling her neck increasing.
"The scent on you is unmistakable." Izanami regarded the two with a twisted smile. "I see… I initially presumed you had been plucked from individual points in time, but it appears to be something far more egregious."
"That's… ironic, coming from you!" Ragna spat. He expected her grip to strengthen at his bark, finally snapping their necks and ending their adventure. Instead Izanami released them, a gentle action. They gasped for air, rubbing their throats and collecting themselves.
"What is the meaning of this?" Rachel scowled.
"What will happen when the will of a world intervenes with another? I would very much like to see the end result. For now, our time together has come to a close." As soon as Izanami said that, the void they inhabited started twisting and bending, just like what occurred before they found themselves before her. A headache of equal potency attacked them as Izanami's regalia returned in a pretentious flash of light. "Farewell."
Everything around them shattered, and when their heads stopped aching, a lush green road greeted them. Ragna and Rachel felt like they could breathe again, properly this time. Relaxing for a moment reminded them of the bruises and injury sustained from facing Izanami, along with the horrifying presence that eclipsed them. "So that was Izanami huh?" Ragna took a deep breath, the Azure Grimoire doing its work for his wounds, albeit somewhat slower than usual.
"Princess!" Nago and Gii rushed to their master's side.
"You needn't concern yourselves. The wind was merely knocked out of me." Rachel picked herself up off the ground, rubbing her sore neck, managing to swallow back her bile. She was still attempting to process the whole ordeal, unsure if meeting Izanami meant something more or was just mere happenstance.
"Nice way of putting it. She nailed you pretty good," Ragna said. Coughing up blood did not equal having the wind knocked out of someone.
"As she did you. I am more worried about how we will proceed."
"Huh? To the Kingdom, right?" Ragna asked.
"That isn't what I mean. I refer to dealing with Izanami, now that we have finally faced her in combat. As we are now, I am afraid we stand no chance. And I'm not entirely confident of our chances even if we retained our lost strength."
Ragna opened his mouth to speak, then shut it. She was right; they were beaten decisively, and by someone who wasn't even trying against them. Yes, they lacked their full capabilities, whether the reason being their bodies acclimating to this world or something different entirely, but even factoring in his full strength, taking Izanami on wasn't going to be an easily achievable feat. He understood that before, but facing off against her splashed his face with the cold water of reality. To be taken down in just one hit… "Not to mention some of the shit she said. About thinking we were plucked from points in time?"
"Yes. Though she appeared mistaken."
"Maybe she was just trying to trick you, Princess. Typical bad guy stuff," Gii figured.
"Doubtful." Rachel's immediate denouncement of her familiar's claim got surprised looks from all of them. "Do not be mistaken. I am not vouching for her character. Though her words confuse me, such as this supposed egregious sin, I detected no inklings of lies or deceit. I think it best we put a pin in it for now." She rubbed her sides and grimaced slightly, still somewhat sore but the injury mostly healed. Izanami, Azrael, that strange being that attacked her in the mines... "We have quite the long road ahead of us."
"...You could say that again."
Watercrest: Town Square
The hustle and bustle of reconstruction carried along the streets. Jubei made his rounds, ensuring that everything was moving along schedule, reprimanding any of his guildsmen who thought now was the best time for rough-housing. He respected his comrades, but they could be a handful at times. At the end of the day that was part of the fun.
"Is everything moving along?" came an exasperated woman's voice, the claps of her heels echoing along the road. He knew her well.
"Just about." Jubei gave a nonchalant shrug. "Enough for some folks to start horsin' around. But I think you've got the harder job, Nine. Figure anything out 'bout that sword?" His whiskers scrunched as a frown flashed across her face. She let off a heavy sigh, leaning onto her right leg.
"I would have to wait until I return to Ishana," she told him. "I don't have the necessary equipment with me to conduct any proper tests. I unsheathed it—" Nine stopped at the blank look in his eyes . "I had to do it eventually. Besides, nothing even happened."
"Doesn't mean it ain't reckless. Well… not gonna chew you out for helpin'. So, nothin'?"
"The formula inscribed is pretty archaic. It's reminiscent of that guy who staged an attack on Orbis a while back." Informants had spotted strange movements around and inside Orbis by an outside party a while before the attack was initiated. The destructive force from the ring leader was curious to say the least, especially when examination showed he had little attunement with ether. "What concerns me most is what I encountered in the mines."
"Did have anything t'do with that explosion?" Jubei inquired.
"Possibly. Besides some cronies, there was a strange girl and what I can only call a demon."
"Demon huh… Guess that's about as accurate an umbrella to put 'em under as any," Jubei nodded, stroking his whiskers in thought. "Did that attack on Orbis give ya anything to work with?"
Nine itched her hair under her pointy hat. "Aside from a headache, not really. Frankly, I don't know what to look for. Both of these cases share similarities in appearance and an unnaturally corroded ether state, but motive or how they come to be is still unknown." Before she thought the weapons used were the key, like the user channeled some kind of dark power from it. However, the one in the mines had no strange equipment on him. Thinking this incident might simply be an outlier, she didn't want to throw her theory out the window but there was a need to reconsider the facts.
"I'd like to say take yer time but that doesn't seem to be an option anymore." Jubei crossed his arms and looked up in thought. It was a good thing he reached out for assistance this time around; he didn't know his right foot from his left when it came to magical intricacies. Verste had a few mages among its people, but their knowledge and expertise paled in comparison to the resources afforded to those in Orbis. "Met an interesting fella last night. Calls himself Ragna."
Her brows furrowed. "That's not a name I'm familiar with."
"Me neither."
She folded her arms. "Do you think he's connected with these incidents?"
"Nah, that ain't it. I just think he and the girl he's travelin' with might be more in the know than us."
"Black dress, two strange creatures with her?" Nine profiled.
Jubei nodded. "That's the one."
"I'll keep an eye out for them."
"Not gonna share with your allies?" the cat wondered.
Nine stayed silent for a moment before replying, "Let's just say it's gotten a bit tense and leave it at that."
Jubei pressed no further. "Then I'll leave it to you, Nine." Once again she glowered and he was stumped on why. "Did I… say somethin' wrong?"
"It's nothing." She turned around with her arms crossed, tapping the ground with a foot.
"C'mon now, tell me what I said wrong."
"I said, nothing," she replied with more emphasis, though he wasn't buying it with her pouting the way she was.
"Ya got me worryin' here, is everything alright?" A lengthy silence passed and he sighed and scratched his head. She obviously had something on her mind, and though he didn't like pressing people about things, it appeared he was the cause. Opening his mouth to ask again, she faced him in a huff.
"My name." Jubei tilted his head with a "huh?" as her cheeks flared up. "I've told you a hundred times now that you can call me by my name."
Jubei's shoulders slumped. Is that what's gotten her all pissy? As if she could read his thoughts, although anyone could read his body language, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. If looks could kill her body count would be legendary. "A-alright, sorry, Konoe." She stared at him in silence, the harsh glare she bore into him not softening. Then she turned away and walked off in a hurry without a word, disappearing around the corner. With a shrug, he sighed, "I just don't get her sometimes…"
Funny story: the outline for this chapter had been completed for a while, however, the length bothered me. Instead of forcing anything, I just wrote what I had to and called it. Fitting, I'd say, as this chapter marks the end of this story's prologue.
BigBoys: Thanks for reading. I enjoyed writing their little family formation.
CrimsonDemon666: Not too big fan of Luna either, though my irritation has lessened greatly over time. Anyway, glad you found the chapter a good read!
Guest 1: It's never good. Developers always stash end-game bosses in starting areas like that... bastards know I'm persistent.
Beard Cutter: Nope!
Nephilim: Things have only just begun.
Dr. Slump: A fair assessment.
Guest 2: They'll show up later.
Guest 3: Yes.
Guest 4: Like all things, it will be revealed in time.
See you guys!