Disclaimer: All I own are the new characters and places, blah, blah, blah. I think you get the picture. Lol. J
For a few minutes after the Slayer had flown away, Maka was paralyzed with fear and hatred. He had taken her parents, her friends, and almost everyone else in the village, including some Watchmen.
Looking around, she saw Ikrov on the ground, wounded. Maka rushed over to him, tearing at her tunic for a bandage.
"Don't! I'm already making the journey to the realm of the Black God. There is nothing anyone can do for me now. Save yourself!" Ikrov gasped, pulling a final breath into his dying lungs. Then he was still.
Maka was shaking furiously. "When I get my hands on that no-good, lousy, slime-like Slayer, I'll gut him and bring him to justice in the Court of Mithros!"
"Maka! Come here, child." It was Futureseeker. When Maka arrived, the old woman grabbed her wrist in an impossibly powerful grip.
"Maka, you must leave now! Soon, the man who has figured out how to control the immortals will arrive to resurrect his army. You are not safe!"
Futureseeker kept her hold on Maka until the very last. Soon, her shallow pulse stopped, the rise and fall of her chest ceased, and her wise words were no more. But something was there. Perhaps, when Maka had unleashed her magical rage on the Slayer (slug!), she had uncovered a sixth sense. It was either that, or the rather obvious white glow around the woman's corpse.
Scared, Maka backed away. The light grew steadily brighter and started to come from all over Futureseeker, not just her outline. Suddenly, a beautiful young woman with full red lips, emerald-like eyes, and long black hair rose from the body.
"You- you're-" Maka stumbled over her words in shock.
"Yes, I am" said the woman. "You must leave and never return here again. Take a staff, for protection. Good luck, my daughter." said the Great Mother Goddess
"But-"
"No 'buts'. At a time like this, it is advised to listen to a goddess, and ask questions later. Go."
"Yes, my Mother" Maka answered respectfully.
The Goddess slowly began to fade, until she had disappeared entirely.
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~
In her next door neighbor's house, she found staffs. Maka thanked the gods that she knew the Woodworkers. Going to the staff rack, she went for the longest staff first. No sooner had her hands touched the staff than it crumbled under her touch. This was very strange, as the Woodworkers were the best in their class. Frowning, she picked up the second longest one. It, too, crumbled beneath her touch. The same happened for every staff until she had reached the last one. It was only a foot long and looked very pathetic indeed. However, when Maka touched it, the staff held. It felt warm to her skin and seemed to want to become a part of her. Before she had time to ponder the mysterious staff any more than she had, a deafening crash from outside shattered her thoughts.
Rushing outside, she found a dead immortal, an ogre, and a sweaty, but glorious, knight. The knight turned to face Maka.
"Hello. Are you Makatula?" asked the knight.
"Y- yes, I am. Why?"
The knight pulled off the helmet from his? head. It revealed shoulder-length red hair with violet eyes.
"I must tell you this. I am Sir Alanna of Trebond and Olau, Knight of the Realm of Tortall, a shaman and rider of the Bloody Hawk Tribe of the Bazhir. You are in danger, but I'm sure you already knew that" said Alanna with a small smile. "You must leave now, but first, you must know that you are-" she was interrupted by a cry of "Look out!" from Maka. Whirling, the knight was faced with an ogre, a huge, eight-foot-tall, aqua-skinned ogre. Alanna slashed at its legs, hoping to make it fall like the last one. The ogre roared with pain as the sword dug into its flesh.
"Run now! Hurry and escape! Take the northeast route to the capital! Go!"
Maka obeyed at a run. When she reached the North Gates, she looked back towards her home. With a sigh, she started down the road at a light trot, tears streaming silently down her face.