Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable in this story. They are owned by Kore Yamazaki. I just play with her characters.
Author's Notes: I'm so glad I could post sooner than usual. This one is action-packed with a little fluff, and I hope you would enjoy it. So then, onto the show! :)
Chapter 16: A Reason to Suffering
"Welcome, Sleigh Beggy. You don't know how long I've waited for this moment."
Chise's eyes widened as she took in the sight of Joseph before her. Her heart beat fast inside her chest, all the while trying to think of a way for her and Lian to be able to escape the place they were in right now. Joseph though reveled in the fear reflected in Chise's eyes. His sinister smile grew wider as he moved closer towards her.
"So you must be wondering now why you are here. It's because I need you. Well, not exactly you, but your magical energy. You've got lots of it, right? So it is just fair that you share them." Joseph stated, brushing a hand on his silver hair, so casually as if there was nothing wrong and immoral in abducting Chise and her friend.
"W-What do you want with my magical energy?"
"Ah, I promised to explain after all, didn't I? I simply need it to transfer my curse to someone else."
"Your… curse?" Chise repeated, unsure if she heard Joseph correctly. She never knew anything about this evil Sorcerer for Elias and she had never talked about him.
"Yes. You see, I'm cursed with immortality. I have been for almost a thousand years. My body can rot, but I am still alive unable to die. And honestly, I'm sick and tired of it. That's why I'm collecting magical energies. To pay for the exchange the transfer requires. And that's where you come in."
"To whom will you transfer your curse?"
"I think you already know." Joseph's eyes shifted from Chise's to the body of her unconscious friend.
At that moment, the Sleigh Beggy looked from Joseph to Lian, and understanding dawned on her. He meant to use Lian either way even when he said he'd let the Scrimgeour heir go. She bristled in anger at Joseph's unfairness. "No! You promised you'd let him go if I come with you!"
"I promised no such thing. If you can remember, little miss Sleigh Beggy, I promised to keep him alive. That's all. And what a pleasant gift my curse is for him! He will never die!" Joseph gave out a hearty laugh, placing both his hands on his abdomen and slightly bending his back backwards.
It was in this unguarded moment that Chise decided to fight back. "I won't let you!" She took out her wand in haste and chanted an incantation for her Elemental Magic. "Sacred blaze of hellfire, destroy and reduce to ash—"
But she was cut short as Joseph launched himself at her, pinning her to the floor of his living room. He was heavy despite his small stature, and he took Chise's wand and threw it across his living room. And then he grabbed Chise's left arm with his dragon one and twisted it strongly, breaking the bone in a snap. Chise let out a loud scream at the pain, but Joseph only laughed malevolently.
"Oh, it's not a matter of letting me, Sleigh Beggy. You will give me your magical energy, and I will transfer it to your friend. Now you can choose, either I extract your magical energy from you with you in further pain or I extract it without an additional one." Joseph hissed, pulling on Chise's broken left arm and making her scream in pain once again. As he did so, he noticed her magical bindings on her left wrist and examined it. "Of course, I would have to deal with this first. But I don't need you giving me further problems, so perhaps you should fancy a little sleep first."
Joseph placed his hand on Chise's forehead, and instantly she felt an irresistible desire to close her eyes. She tried to fight it with all her might, but it was a losing battle. And yet a thought lingered in her head. Elias. She had to let him know. She had to, and for sure he would come for her and Lian. So at the very edge of her consciousness, she willed her magic to do her bidding and let him know the only way she knew how.
Please, let it reach him.
xxxx
Elias was reading a novel on his dining table when the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated intensely. Having designed the phone himself, he knew what it meant, and he almost dropped his book from his hands in shock. Chise. Chise was in danger. He immediately fished from his pocket the said phone and true enough, a message from Chise was there and the green adder stone at the back became red. His eyes widened as he read her message, a one word that sent a shiver to his spine.
Joseph
He instantly stood up from his chair and headed out the door of his quarters. He ran to the Research Labs, intent on finding the other person who could help him. When he reached its entrance, he frantically knocked on its door, loud rapping sounds that might have been rude if he wasn't in such a hurry. Renfred. Renfred must be here. It was a confused Adolf Stroud that opened the door though, and Elias bust through as soon as he could.
"Renfred!? Where is Renfred?" The Magus asked hurriedly, scanning the entire room for his warden. Elias found him sitting in the sofa, a mug of coffee in his hands.
"What's wrong, Ainsworth?" Renfred enquired nonchalantly, though he was surprised to find the Magus in the Research Labs. He never ever stepped foot in there before.
"He's got her! Joseph has Chise!" Elias answered quickly, showing Renfred his phone and Chise's message. "She has a phone like mine. The adder stone at the back becomes red if she's hurt. It has a tracking spell. Renfred, we need to—"
"How the hell did he know? Joseph is after magical energies, and Chise's a Sleigh Beggy!" Renfred stood up from where he sat connecting the dots. He looked at Ainsworth with a determined look and unlocked Elias's magical bindings quickly. "Can you get to her this instant with your teleportation magic?"
Elias nodded in affirmation, eager to leave immediately and get to Chise. The Sorcery professor then turned to Adolf Stroud seriously, "Please inform the Headmistress and tell her to send back up."
"I will." Adolf agreed. "Be careful, you two."
Renfred went near to Elias then and placed a hand on the Magus's shoulder. And with a nod of the Sorcery professor's head, Elias concentrated on the tracking spell he had on the adder stone that connected him to Chise. And then he began his incantation, "Nettles in the shadows, a wheel of hollies. Ten-folds and twenty-folds, weaves the spider's thread of the nest to the branch."
They were engulfed by black vines for a moment, and they felt a sensation of floating. Afterwards, Renfred and Elias found themselves inside a living room of an apartment. Renfred looked to his right and saw Lian Scrimgeour's unconscious body lying on the floor. He quickly motioned towards him quietly, checking if he was still alive. When the Sorcery professor was sure, he made a signal to Elias to allow him to search the area.
Elias looked around the living room, feeling a certain dread in his heart. The air in the apartment was filled with remnants of magical energy. And he knew whose it was, even without an instrument that could identify whose. Chise's. They had been together long enough for him to be able to recognize her magical imprint anywhere. He walked stealthily towards the room with no door farther in front of him, and his crimson eyes opened wide in shock.
The room had various Chimeras in large containers near the wall at the far end. Around four. But what surprised Elias more was that there, lying on what seemed to be an operating table at the center of the room, was Chise with various tubes attached to her body, connecting her to some sort of device that was draining her magical energy. And Joseph was standing beside it, with his back turned on Elias.
The Magus felt intense rage swell inside of him. "Cartaphilus!" He shouted as he summoned his hardened, black vines to separate the cursed Sorcerer from Chise.
"How did—" Joseph didn't have time to react as Elias's hardened black vines hit his device disconnecting Chise from it, the magical energy he collected diffusing into the air around them. When he realized he could no longer recover it, he screamed in frustration at having his plan foiled and thwarted once again. "Argh! Why is it always like this!? This is the best that I have done in hundreds of years! And then you all come and ruin it!"
But Elias didn't hear any of what the cursed Sorcerer said. For as soon as Chise's magical energy diffused into the air, his mind was drawn into another dimension.
xxxx
Elias found himself standing inside what seemed to be his mind palace, an action he never remembered doing at that moment. Wasn't he in Joseph's apartment? What was happening? He was inside a room he didn't recognize having. The walls were black, and the room didn't have any door or windows. Nonetheless, his heart pounded hard in his chest when he saw who was standing in front of him. There, in an elegant white cloak, was Rahab.
"At last! It is because of her, I guess. Only because of her." She said, before Elias could even speak a word.
"R-Rahab?" He whispered in the air, unbelieving that he was seeing her as if she was corporeal.
"Why am I seeing you? Are you real? Is this a dream?"
"I am real, my dear son. Not physically though. I am only the Rahab that has been tied to you for seventy-five years." Rahab answered, moving close to Elias. When he was within her reach, she reached out both her hands and held his skeletal jaws tenderly.
"Mother…" Elias breathed out, as he felt warmth spread through him from the contact of Rahab's hands on his wolf-skull of a face. He felt something overwhelming stir in his chest, and the words came out before he could even stop himself, his crimson eyes becoming misty. "Forgive me. I ate you. Please forgive me."
"No, my child. You didn't. I gave my life to you willingly. That night inside the cave. You were dying, and I just wanted to save you." Rahab lifted her hands from Elias's jaws and wrapped them tightly around his torso. She rested her head on his shoulder, tears quietly streaming down her eyes. "And how you've suffered. Oh, how you've suffered!"
"I don't… I don't understand." Elias said, his trembling arms embracing his mother in return. She gave her life to him? But he ate her. He turned into his beast-like Chimera form and ate her.
"You will soon enough. For now, you must save her. You must save Hatori Chise and kill Joseph, or else he will keep coming after her."
"He doesn't die."
"I know of a way." Rahab stated reassuringly, her dark eyes looking seriously at Elias's crimson ones. "Cleave my life force from you and bind his curse to me. His curse only needs a life force to cling to, and my magical energy inside you is powerful enough as an exchange."
"But—"
"I'm already dead, Elias. What is dead never dies again. All that's left is for me to return to the stream of life." Rahab smiled ruefully, gazing at her son with such tenderness. "And it's about time I leave you in peace."
"Rahab…" Elias could only breathe out her name once again. He could never understand how life can be so cruel sometimes. He had just seen his mother once again after seventy-five long years, and now he was about to lose her again.
"Now, my son, quickly!" Rahab commanded firmly, her image fading away steadily. Elias nodded his head in a silent agreement to what she previously said. And the last thing he saw before Rahab completely disappeared was her kind smile—the smile he had forgotten and wanted to etch into his memory once again.
xxxx
"Ainsworth!"
Elias blinked his eyes and found that he was back again in Joseph's apartment where Chise was lying down on an operating table with her magical energy filling the air. The whole room was now in a huge uproar though for Joseph had released all four of his Chimeras. Renfred was keeping them occupied with his gun, but it was clear that he had all his hands full. Joseph smiled darkly at this, and then he opened a portal that would take him outside of his apartment instantly. Elias watched the cursed Sorcerer swiftly escape, still in a daze from his encounter with Rahab.
"Ainsworth! What the hell's wrong with you? Run after him! We have to kill him now, or he will keep trying to collect magical energies!" Renfred managed to say, in between his shooting at Joseph's Chimeras. He dodged the one that attacked him on his right, and then he shot it in between the eyes afterwards. Elias looked back at the Sorcerer professor with worry, but Renfred only brushed it aside. "Go now while the portal is still open! I'll take care of everything here."
Elias snapped out of his trance then and nodded his head. He quickly transformed into his wolf-like Chimera form and followed after Joseph. The portal instantly transported him outside of the apartment building. He saw Joseph running at a far-off distance in a back alley, and Elias decided to quicken his pace.
When the cursed Sorcerer knew he was being followed, he immediately turned a corner and headed for one of London's abandoned open spaces he knew. He reached the area and then stopped at the steps of the statue located in its middle, catching his breath. Elias was immediately able to catch up with him, and the Magus transformed back to his refined wolf-skull form as soon as he was able to.
Knowing that he couldn't escape, Joseph looked at the Magus with so much hate. "Why can't you just leave me alone!?"
"Because I have to end this. I have to end you." Elias answered firmly, his mind remembering Rahab's words to him.
"End me? Don't you understand, little Magus boy? I can't die. Even if I want to, even if my body rots, I'll still live. Stab me with your thorns, burn me alive, and I'll still live. You will never understand the suffering I go through!"
"Do you truly wish to be understood? Or are you just using your suffering as an excuse to do what you want?"
Joseph felt himself bristle in defense upon Elias's presumption. How dare he belittle his suffering? The little Magus boy would never know what it was like to feel intense pain in your body endlessly for almost a thousand years. To have your body rot so many times that one has to sew and meld body parts just to keep being functional.
"What do you know about suffering and being understood? You look at me as if you're the one who suffers the most. You who ate his master and got away with it with just a slap in the hand and magical bindings on your ankles."
"I never claimed to be suffering more than you. But you killed people intentionally, Joseph. All for your own selfish desires. That makes you nothing but a monster." Elias stated, looking straight into Joseph's eyes, the crimson locking in to the blue.
"As I expected, you make me sick. You and your damn self-righteousness. Go ahead then. End me. Let's see who shall die today." Joseph said with so much vitriol. And then he raised his right arm and giant, purple centipedes started to crawl out of it. So many that it became a tidal wave that launched at Elias and covered and swallowed him whole. As he was watching it happen, the cursed Sorcerer smiled to himself, thinking of how easy it was to defeat the Magus.
Joseph was about to leave the open space when a large conflagration appeared on Elias's end, burning all of his giant centipedes. The cursed Sorcerer gritted his teeth in frustration. The little Magus boy just wouldn't stay down. Joseph glared at him, yet Elias only looked at him with determined crimson eyes.
"Is it him? Is he the one who made our dear Robin suffer?" A female fire sprite's voice resounded in the air. She rested herself on Elias's shoulder, eyes filled with cold fury while looking at Joseph.
Elias on the other hand wasted no more time in transforming to his beast-like Chimera form. Shadows swallowed him, and long, black vines with sharp thorns danced around him. His horns lengthened, and at his back, spikes emerged. At the top of his head, thick black fur emerged, and bony ribs appeared on his chest.
"I'm not letting you escape." Elias rasped to Joseph, in a deep and growling voice. He nodded to Bael and opened his skeletal mouth wide. The fire sprite then placed herself inside, and Elias swallowed her, absorbing her essence into himself.
The cursed Sorcerer bit his lip in anger and frustration. There was really no choice but to fight then. But it was not as if he couldn't beat the little Magus boy. So he stretched out his arm and chanted an incantation, "Awake, hallowed ground where all life springs from! Harden the soil, transmute the boulders! Morph all into double-edged swords of my hands!"
The ground they were standing on trembled strongly, and in a flash it broke into countless, large pieces that transformed into elongated, pointed, sword-like projectiles. They floated around Joseph, and upon his command, he hurled them towards Elias. The Magus though let out a huge breath of fire that burned to the highest degree, the temperature enough to consequently melt Joseph's projectiles before it even reached him. Elias then summoned his black vines, whipping in the air with the intent of trapping the cursed Sorcerer. But Joseph only blocked his assaults with a mud wall he created upon touching the ground.
Finding it a hindrance, Elias then burned the mud wall with his breath of fire again, and this time, he hardened his thorny vines and launched them at Joseph. Yet even without the mud wall, the cursed Sorcerer was agile at evading, chuckling to himself at how slow the Magus seemed to be. It wasn't until he stepped on a certain spot in the open space they were in that he found himself entangled in Elias's black vines, constricting him tightly that he couldn't move an inch. He fell for it. The damn Magus had laid a trap, buried his other vines in the ground while attacking him, and he fell for it. Joseph screamed in frustration while trying to wriggle free, but it was no use.
Elias then flung himself to Joseph's body, pinning the cursed teenage boy to the ground. He let out a loud growl as Joseph struggled to free himself. The Magus thought of how to further immobilize Joseph so he could extract his curse, and he decided to cast sleep magic. He started an incantation, "Resound, resound, forest song of the night! Hear, hear, the howling of the grave keepe—"
But Joseph just immediately broke free from the Magus's bindings and stabbed Elias straight through his torso with his dragon arm. The Magus wasn't even able to finish his incantation, and a huge amount of blood spilled from his skeletal mouth. Joseph smirked in return, feeling victorious finally. "You're not the only one who can lay traps. Too bad, little Magus boy, I've always been immune to sleep magic."
"Now… I've really… caught you." Elias managed to say in between heaving breaths. His left hand seized Joseph's dragon arm hard, preventing the cursed Sorcerer from retracting it. And then he conjured Chise's wand with his right hand and pointed it on Joseph's forehead.
"Let me go! I said let me go!" The cursed Sorcerer screamed, pulling his dragon arm and feeling uncertain of what the Magus was planning. But Elias was gripping it so tightly that he couldn't even move it. And then he heard the Magus chant an incantation once again.
"NETTLES IN THE SHADOWS, A WHEEL OF HOLLIES,
A VESSEL FOR A VESSEL TO STILL HEAVEN'S WRATH,
POUR THE CUP OF BLOOD AND TEARS TO THE BRIM,
TIE SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN AROUND THE FIG,
UNTIL THE MOON CRASHES ONTO THE EARTH!"
Upon finishing his incantation, Elias felt something in him sever, as if there was a cord that was tied to his being that was finally cut. A huge amount of magical energy flowed out of him, a different one from what he usually uses, but a familiar one nonetheless for he knew whose magical imprint it was. It was Rahab's. It was gentle, kind, and comforting, soothing his soul as if he was being embraced by her once again. He didn't want to let go of it, but he knew he should. He blinked his crimson eyes and saw a silhouette of her once again. His mother smiled at him, held his skeletal jaws, and kissed his forehead one last time. And then she was gone.
"W-What—" Joseph's eyes widened as he felt a certain warmth course through his body and exit him gradually. It was as if he was carrying a ton of burning metal on his back all along, and it was suddenly lifted from him. His whole being felt light, like he was floating in the air, weightlessness enveloping him like a warm blanket in a winter night. But after a few seconds, he felt something stab him on his back.
Joseph looked down and saw a dagger piercing him straight through his heart. He looked behind him and saw Renfred staring back at him with a hint of pity. He wanted to get angry at that, but he realized it wasn't worth it anymore. It wasn't even painful at all. He just felt a certain need to close his eyes and rest, for he was tired of it all.
"So this is what death feels like. I still won, I guess." Joseph retracted his dragon arm from Elias's torso for the Magus wasn't holding it anymore. And then he slumped completely to the ground and took his last breath.
Elias too almost fell unceremoniously on his back if Renfred wasn't there to support him. The Magus looked at the Sorcery professor with grateful eyes. Renfred then examined his injury and tore his coat to wrap it around Elias's torso to stem the bleeding. It should be enough for now until he could get the Magus official medical help.
"Good work, Ainsworth." The Sorcery professor said, feeling amazed at what Elias did. There was a questioning look on his crimson eyes that Renfred immediately supplied the answer to. "They're fine now. All the Chimeras are dead, and Professor Walker and Headmistress Quillyn herself are watching Ms. Hatori and Mr. Scrimgeour. Alexandra's now there too."
Upon hearing that Chise was safe now, Elias let out a relieved sigh. Then he looked at Renfred with pleading eyes. "Take me to her, Renfred. Please take me to… Chise."
"Transform to your refined wolf-skull form first. I doubt you'll fit in Joseph's apartment at your current state." Renfred advised, and Elias complied. The Sorcery professor then took out his transportation device. He dragged Joseph's dead body closer to his side, noting that it wouldn't do to leave it in the open space they were in. Afterwards, he held out his hand for Elias to grab, and pressed the button in his transportation device.
There was a flash of light, and Elias found himself back in Joseph's apartment again. True to Renfred's word, Professor Walker and Headmistress Quillyn were already there, standing in the living room and keeping watch. Alexandra too was there, and she was checking up on Chise's and the Scrimgeour heir's condition. When the College physician saw Elias though, she immediately shook her head in dismay at his completely battered and injured state.
"Honestly, Ainsworth. When will you stop getting injured like this?" She chided as she unwrapped Renfred's coat from his torso and muttered a spell for first aid. It completely stopped the bleeding, but Elias could still feel the intense pain. Still, his need to see Chise safe kept him in the realm of consciousness.
"I want… to see her." He implored Alexandra, his voice filled with so much yearning that the College physician couldn't refuse. So she helped Elias stand with two of her arms and let him lean on her as they walked to where Chise was. The Sleigh Beggy was lying on Joseph's sofa, unconscious and pale. When she was near Elias's reach, he knelt down, extended his gloved hand, and cupped her cheek.
"She lost a lot of magical energy, but she'll recover them eventually with enough rest. Her left arm's broken, but that too can be healed in a month. She's fine, Ainsworth." Alexandra told Elias. Yet it was as if he didn't hear her. So focused was he on gazing at Chise. The College physician let out a sigh at his stubbornness, but she had always known and understood how devoted the Magus was to the Sleigh Beggy. She placed a hand on Elias's shoulder. "You're in a much worse condition. It's you I need to attend to. Will you please let me now?"
At last, Elias nodded absentmindedly, taking off his eyes from Chise. The only time he ever did so.
xxxx
Elias opened his eyes and was greeted by the white ceiling of the infirmary. He wondered for a moment how that could be. And then he noticed that he was lying on his back, leaning against a stack of fluffy pillows that prevented his horns from hitting the bed's headboard. He never remembered falling asleep like this, so he rubbed his eyes just to see if he was dreaming. The white ceiling remained, but at his left side, a soft voice called out.
"Elias?"
He always knew that voice wherever he would hear it. Chise's. The sound of her voice was already ingrained in a room in his mind palace, safely secured and always available for him to listen to again and again. Yet the owner of that voice was right beside him right now, and he was grateful that he could actually listen to her rather than rely on a memory.
"How are you feeling?" The Sleigh Beggy asked, reaching out to brush a hand on his skeletal jaw.
"A little strange. I don't usually wake up like this." He said, closing his eyes and relishing her touch. He had meant that he wasn't used to waking up with Chise sitting beside his bed, but she mistook it for something else.
"Your torso is badly injured, so Alexandra didn't want to let you lie down on a prone position like you always do."
"I see." Elias nodded his head, finally understanding why he was lying on the bed on his back. "How long was I out?"
"Three days."
"Three… days?" Elias repeated in disbelief. He never remembered falling asleep that long regardless of whatever his injuries were.
"I just woke up earlier than you today. Alexandra said you were making so much fuss, so she had to induce sleep on you so you would truly recover. She might have just overdone it though."
Elias chuckled at the College physician's audacity. Trust that she would resort to manhandling him just to get her way. Chise too let out a giggle, and he finally took in the sight of her at that moment. He noticed that color had gone back to her face, so unlike when he saw her lying down on an operating table in Joseph's apartment. Still, he wanted to confirm if she was alright. "How are you?"
Chise gave him a small smile. "I feel a little pain in my broken arm, but I've been given painkillers, and it's nothing that wouldn't heal."
That was when Elias noticed the white cast on her left arm, and shame suddenly rained over him, knowing that he had let something bad happen to her. "I'm sorry. I know I should've come sooner. I should've—"
But Chise squeezed Elias's left hand to stop him from his self-loathing. "No. Joseph broke my arm before I could even send a message to you. None of this was your fault. So don't ever say you're sorry."
"Chise…" He breathed out her name as she moved closer to him and embraced him. Upon the contact, Elias then felt that everything was finally alright. Joseph was dead, and Chise would be safe from now on. He held her tighter, grateful and feeling like he was blessed by the gods themselves.
"Thank you, Elias. For coming for Lian and me. For saving me." Chise said to him, her voice a little muffled by his shirt, as her face was buried on his chest.
"I'll always come running to you if you ever need me. I promise you, Chise." He replied, each word carefully spoken, as if he was a knight making an oath to his queen. And then he nuzzled her temple tenderly with his skeletal snout.
"I know. It's just… Thank you. Thank you so much." Chise drew back from their embrace and smiled at him, bright and warm, just like she always did. And for him, seeing it every time was like seeing a sunrise for the first time.
And that was when Elias knew that he would fight anything, go through anything, and do anything just to see Chise smile again and again.
"You're always welcome."
xxxx
Additional Notes: We're nearing the end for this little story. Just one more chapter. If you've reached this far, thank you for reading this little fanfiction and for giving it a chance. I hope it was a fun ride for you, as it was for me. As always little notes for here and there:
The quote 'what is dead never dies again' is taken from the wonderful novel 'A Song of Ice and Fire'. I just tweaked it a bit. I think it is 'what is dead may never die' there, I'm just not sure though. It's been quite a while since I read it.
I took the liberty of giving Joseph some Elemental Magic, for there is no Ashen Eyes in this story that would help him. I just figured that since he was a grave digger, Earth magic would be suitable for him.
Elias's incantation for sleep magic is the same incantation Chise used on Joseph in the final episode of the anime. I just borrowed it because I couldn't think of anything else.
How did this chapter go for you? Please drop a review to share your thoughts. It really helps! :)
Mariangel: Thank you for your reviews! Even though it was in Spanish, I used Google Translate, and I felt touched by your words. Thank you once again! :)