Disclaimer: Like I said last time, I don't…oh…uh oh…
Yuri: What's wrong?
I didn't write a disclaimer last time.
Yuri: So? It's not like you're a criminal or anything.
Yeah! You're right. I mean, what are the chances that one of the companies is going to find out that there's no disclaimer in just one chapter and get mad? They're infinitesimal! They're tiny! They're--
(Cop sirens go off and Yuri looks up)
Yuri: Getting better all the time, I'd say.
AAAH! (Goes out the window)
Yuri: (Sweatdrop) Um…Aegis doesn't own Shadow Hearts. In fact, she even kidnapped me! Hey! I can tell the cops that!
YUUUUUUURIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!
Yuri: (Looks up) That's not how you spell my name!
…
(Collective sweatdrop)
**
Reviewers:
Yuri: Hold on a second Aegis. We do this at the end of the chapter.
Not this time.
Yuri: Why?
Well, if we waited till the end, then I'd be answering them all by myself.
Yuri: I'm still going to be here.
…
Yuri: …right?
Moving on…
Yuri: Why wouldn't I be here?
You'll see.
Delka: Are Regina and Persephone really that scary? I did try to make Regina kind of freaky, and especially with her mood swings, but Persephone…well, I guess your opinion of her probably won't be improved by this chapter…and, is Alice going to die? I can't give away the plot!
Yuri: What plot?
Shut up. But yes, I hate her voice too. Which is weird, because it makes it less rewarding to go through all the work to get the happy ending.
Yuri: (Glares) I think the fact that she lives is enough of a reward…
Gutterfiend: Um, Regina can't exactly go away. Right now she's the main villain/villainess/evil bad girl…thingy. The pairings so far are Yuri/Alice, probably-not-but-maybe Keith/Margarete (there's a really bad attempt in this chapter), and probably ?/?.
Yuri: '?/?' ???
…I can't give that pairing away yet! I might not even do it, so it's going to stay secret for now. So don't worry, Yuri and Alice are going to be together at the end. Sorry for making you wait. Thanks for the compliment!
Yuri: What compliment?
Don't you see it? 'This fic is hardcore.'
Yuri: …That could be taken in a good way or a bad way…
My sister said the same thing. Darn it, what is it with you and her and not letting me enjoy my reviews?! I'm going to take it in a good way, so there!
Greyfriars: …while Margarete and her real-life example seem to be somewhat close (Interesting quote from web site: 'Mata Hari's attractiveness, as well as her apparent willingness to appear almost nude on the stage, made her a huge hit'), the real-life person spied on the French (and even that's debated). Not on the Japanese. Kawashima is just…weird (one site mentioned a fetish for boots). They're nothing alike, especially since SH's Kawashima seems to respect China (I think it's the conversation between her and Kato on the boat that shows what I'm talking about) while the real-life Kawashima laughed at the bombing of Shanghai by Japanese…and the real-life Kawashima dies way after SH's Kawashima. I don't know…I would just say don't worry about the real-life examples.
Roger Bacon's under your bed? Which one? Real or imposter?
PoopooPlaTTer: Well-
Yuri: Ahahaha! That is too good!
Um-
Yuri: Oh yeah, your friend's going to write 'yoai'?
Oh shut up, Yuri! And by the way, I kept my promise. You're going to be in pain today.
Yuri: (Gulp)
Along with a few other characters. Anyways, I think it's fixed…now. Thanks for catching it. I can't spell yaoi…where do they get the 'a' from, anyway? It sounds like 'yoy'…um…sudden changes to first person…I'll think I'll announce a change in POV at the start of the section with [], but I'm not planning on changing earlier chapters for that. It seems like everyone still got who I was talking about.
**
AN:
(In the interest of conserving SP, you may want to skip this)
Yuri had a little lamb,
Little lamb, little lamb,
Yuri had a little lamb,
Its fleece was red as blood.
And everywhere that Yuri went,
Yuri went, Yuri went,
And everywhere that Yuri went,
The lamb was sure to go.
It followed him to Hell one day,
Hell one day, Hell one day,
It followed him to Hell one day,
Which was against the rules.
It made the demons hiss and scream,
Hiss and scream, hiss in scream,
It made the demons hiss and scream
To see a lamb in Hell.
Yuri:…
You like? I made it up during an award assembly for a math contest.
Yuri: What the hell were you on?
Um…bottle of cherry coke, bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos, two big M&M cookies…no breakfast…
Yuri: Ah…
Um…yeah. This has no point except that I managed to screw up "Mary had a little lamb" into some demented Shadow Hearts song. This chapter is made of the same kind of logic.
Yuri: She still hasn't let me read it yet.
You'd kill me if you did. I think the readers are going to kill me too. I'm planning on giving all the flames to Regina.
Yuri: You think this chapter's gonna get flames?
Probably, seeing as most of it was written late at night, either doing a sugar high or sugar crash, and during a solitaire marathon. And, once again, the formatting is slightly screwed. It's also my first chapter ever that has more than one fight in it (well, not counting verbal sparring). By the way, I actually did some research for this chapter! I had to look up what kind of magic spells people had at their higher levels, since my finishing team has always been Yuri, Alice, and Keith. Yuri and Alice 'cause they're cute (and Yuri's required anyway), and Keith because I find it easiest to get ring perfects with him.
Yuri: Oh boy…um Aegis?
Yeah?
Yuri: The AN has reached its limit. We need to move on now.
On to the longest chapter in this measly fanfic!
**
Yuri had cheered up a lot by the time the rest of the children woke up. By the time Chris and Halley had finally gotten Sharon and Joshua up and dressed, the sun had risen, and it looked like a beautiful day. Yuri declared the sky cloud-free.
"Which is a good thing," he added. "Alice wanted to have a picnic at least one of the days, and she wanted today." He smiled, thinking of a picnic where Alice's plans hadn't worked out, but it'd still been for the better.
"The sun's too bright," Sharon said sleepily, dressed in a short light pink dress. She played with her hair, trying to pick out various tangles that she hadn't bothered to brush.
Joshua, once fully awake, was a bundle of energy again. "Hey, let's have a race!"
"Let's not," Chris said. "You'll trip and fall."
Joshua, of course, ignored this, as almost all little kids will. He started running down the street, only to knock into someone as he walked past and fall down hard. Yuri and the girls thought about how right Chris had been while Halley ran over to the boy. The stranger, a big, rough man, looked like he was in a hurry and only glanced at Joshua before walking away. Unlike almost all little kids, he didn't cry, but instead grinned.
"Are you alright?" Halley asked.
Joshua jumped up and smiled enthusiastically. "Uh huh!"
Halley looked at him suspiciously. "Did you do something?"
"I ran into that man," the smaller boy said innocently.
Halley of course, didn't buy the act and looked Joshua over. He was clutching something in his left hand, and Halley took his hand and pried it open. His eyes bulged. "I'm going to kill you," he hissed.
"Hey, you! Pickpocket!" A deep, angry voice yelled.
"Run!" Halley yelled, and both London Rats took off across the street and into an alley while the man chased them. Chris and Sharon sprinted after them, trying to get close to them before the man did. Yuri hesitated only a few seconds, wondering why, again, he had to watch these children, before following and overtaking the girls.
It'd been a while since Yuri had been in a chase like this. Joshua was trying to get away from both the man and Halley, and Halley, who was both pissed off at Joshua and worried about the boy being caught, slowed to push over trash cans full of rotten food and garbage to block the man. The victim was not very agile and often tripped and fell into the fly-covered pile, but this also added to his rage and he came after them like some kind of wheezing bull, buzzing flies following him.
Yuri was quicker, as were the girls, and they managed to avoid most of the piles. Most, because Yuri missed once, slipped, and spent a few seconds using the Lord's name in vain while flies swarmed and the two girls passed him. He got up and joined them, then soon had passed them again. Finally they got back out into an open street, the busiest street in the town, and a carriage halted abruptly as Joshua ran past it, panting. Halley yelled at him to "Stop being an idiot, will you just STOP?!" but this did not affect Joshua's pace at all and the carriage had to wait as five more people ran past. Passerbys stared at the sight of two boys being chased by two adults, both covered with garbage, and followed by two girls. Some, naturally assuming the boys to be the troublemakers, made attempts to catch them. Halley and Joshua were used to this and easily dodged the attempts, escaping into the nearest alley.
Yuri cursed. Alice was definitely going to hear about this.
In this alley, Halley tried the same tactic of using garbage cans. Unfortunately, this man was not stupid, and there were fewer people living in this block, meaning fewer cans to knock over. Once the man was closer to him than he was to Joshua, Halley gave up. All this would do is get him caught. Instead, he focused on catching Joshua so they could just give the stupid wallet back.
Luckily, Joshua was getting tired. Halley tried to ignore his own fatigue and closed the gap in them, finally lunging out and grabbing the neck of Joshua's shirt. Joshua gagged and Halley took advantage of this to twist his left arm and take the wallet.
"Hey, hey mister," he yelled, trying to placate the furious man. "Here's your wallet!"
By this time though, the man was not in a reasonable mood, not after being pickpocketed and covered with garbage. He was determined to punish both boys and was quickly closing in on them. Halley quickly realized this and thought of something. He took out his slingshot, put the wallet in between, aimed, pulled and WHAP--
A nice, satisfying slap against the large man's forehead quickly sent him to the ground. The wallet fell next to him.
Yuri slowed to a stop, panting as he looked at the man. He was unconscious, but the injury didn't look too bad. Halley had probably held back on the shot. Despite his better judgement, he grinned. "Nice shot."
Halley only shook his head, still breathing hard and turned to Joshua. "We don't need to steal anymore. What'd you do that for?"
Joshua only looked at the ground. "It was his fault," he muttered sullenly.
"Forget it. Just don't do it again, okay? You don't want to get in trouble anymore, do you?"
"No," Joshua said reluctantly.
Sharon kicked the man lightly with her foot. "What are we gonna do with him?"
Yuri came over and dragged the man back through the alley. When the man stirred lightly--Halley really had held back--Yuri made sure he went back to sleep with a knock on the head and hid him between two of the few garbage cans. He came back, whistling innocently, while all four kids stared at him like he was crazy. At least, they'd never seen an adult act like this.
At their stares, he only shrugged and said, "Hey, I used to do this stuff lots of times. It's no big deal."
"You're not helping as an example," Halley said peevishly.
"So I'm not in trouble?" Joshua said hopefully.
Yuri thought about this. "Well, I guess I agree with Halley. You really better not do this again, or you'll get in big trouble." What kind of trouble, he didn't know, but he was sure Koudelka would have some kind of punishment in store. "But yeah, this one time, we'll let it slide." He brushed a hand through his hair and grimaced. "Come on, let's get to Alice's house. I have absolutely got to take a bath."
**
Mrs. Elliot received them all with only a puzzled glance at Yuri, who quickly said he would take a bath and then ran upstairs. She looked confused, but simply ignored it and called up to him that Zhuzhen might still be in there.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Did you all run here? Your faces are red."
"Um, yeah," Halley said. "We wanted to have a race."
"That's quite some distance to run," she said, then pointed towards the kitchen. "Are you hungry?"
"Yes!" They all yelled, and ran to the room. Inside the kitchen was a most delicious smell of buttermilk pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Unfortunately, the smell was all they got, because when they got into the kitchen they saw a table of empty plates and an incredulous Koudelka bearing witness to the most awesome battle ever fought over a pancake. It was a three-way battle, with Alice, Margarete and Keith all fighting over the right to the last buttermilk pancake, also the last piece of food on the table. Alice was giggling insanely, hysterical over the fact that they were even fighting over a pancake and soon gave up, content to just be a spectator. Margarete and Keith though, fought fiercely and not too fairly. The children and Mrs. Elliot could see Margarete kicking Keith under the table. In return, there were two 'accidental' slips of the fork that stabbed her hand.
"Stop poking me!" she yelled at him.
He merely shrugged and said, "It's hard to keep my hand even when my leg is being jolted."
"Oh, jolted huh? Well, here-" and she kicked out hard. Unfortunately, Keith had anticipated this and moved his leg. Instead of hitting his, she hit the chair's leg and banged her head on the table as her toes screamed in pain. Keith quickly stole the pancake and folded it into his mouth, making sure none of it stuck out of his mouth though his cheeks bulged like a squirrel's.
"That hurt!" she yelled at him.
He chewed laboriously and after a minute swallowed, wincing, as the pieces were still too big for his throat to handle. "'Dig a hole for another and you'll fall in it yourself'."
She growled and then smiled wickedly suddenly. "Should I dig a hole with your sword, hmm? I wonder where it is…"
Keith paled and then excused himself to make sure that the sword was still secure in the guestroom.
"There's no more?" Sharon asked.
Margarete suddenly noticed the four new arrivals. "Ohoho, nope, that idiot just ate the last morsel…"
"You would've if you got it," Halley said irritably. She smiled nervously, making a personal note to herself that a hungry Halley was a dangerous Halley.
"Well, we can always go on the picnic early," Alice said. "Sorry, I guess we did get carried away. We'll go as soon as everyone's ready to then. In the meantime, do you want some milk or orange juice?"
"Milk," Halley and Sharon said at the same time. Chris and Joshua both accepted orange juice quietly, Chris because she was usually rather quiet, and Joshua because he was trying to be extra good now, so as not to be punished.
"Halley, where's Yuri?" Alice asked as she gave him the milk.
"He, um…He kind of got dirty," Halley said. "He's taking a bath right now--unless Zhuzhen's still in there."
"Which I'm not," the Adept replied, coming into the kitchen, dressed in his usual clothing. Taking in the sight of the recent battlefield, he commented, "What'd I miss?"
"Oh, we just got a little carried away over the food," Alice said.
"A little? It looks like you let loose a pack of wolves," he laughed.
Margarete sighed, leaning back in her chair. "Poor kids came too late though," she told Zhuzhen, "so we're going on the picnic soon."
"Really?" Zhuzhen asked, looking puzzled. "Yuri just took the bath. How'd he get covered in garbage anyway?"
"Garbage?" Alice repeated. She looked at the children. "What on earth was he doing?"
"Um, we were racing," Halley said hesitantly, "And we started going through alleys. Clumsy idiot managed to trip and fall, right in a big pile of garbage."
Margarete rolled her eyes while Koudelka leaned forward, looking at Halley. He started feeling nervous. She could often tell when he was lying. "Are you sure?" she said.
He nodded, sure that if he spoke she'd definitely be able to tell by his voice. She seemed happy enough with the answer though, and got up, saying she wanted to take a look around town. She was certainly dressed enough in a red shirt and blue jeans, but Alice still wore a pink nightgown, and Margarete--well, it was always a question if Margarete was dressed enough. Alice soon also excused herself to go upstairs and dress.
"Hey Alice, can we help pack the lunch?" Halley asked as she was on the stairs.
"That'd be helpful," Alice said. "Pack whatever you want, just don't take any food from the top shelf, those are being saved."
Halley nodded and then Joshua, Chris and Sharon all followed him while they ran into the pantry.
**
"Listen, I know we have a few people…"
"We have ten."
"…You could feed a hundred with this," Yuri said, pointing at the four overflowing baskets.
Halley rolled his eyes, apparently tired of trying to explain to Yuri how much food they needed. "Just pick up two and I'll carry the other two. Unless Keith wants to carry something…" He turned to where Keith was holding his sword and arguing with Margarete.
Margarete looked irritated, complaining, "Stop being so paranoid! I am not going to steal Tyrving!"
Keith was not about to put the sword down. "I'm just going to bring it with."
"Oh shut up! We're in a normal town. You can not bring that sword out."
"You swear you won't steal Tyrving again?"
She stomped on the floor, past the point of rationality now. "Don't you trust me?"
At this point Keith only stared at her. Yuri shook his head and muttered, "I don't trust her as far as I can throw her."
"Excuse me, sonny boy?" Margarete asked, rounding on him. "And why is that?"
"Well, first of all," Yuri said, "You're telling him that he can't bring a weapon, even though you still have both your gun and your grenades."
"Those are standard spy equipment," Margarete countered.
Yuri grinned as he replied, "Terrorist."
Which is of course, how Koudelka came into the house, welcomed by a slightly embarrassed Alice, with shouts of 'Terrorist' and 'Spy' coming from the kitchen. Yuri was grinning still, almost laughing as he called an increasingly infuriated Margarete a terrorist, even though he knew she wasn't. After a few more rounds of terrorist and spy, she finally kicked him in the shins, effectively ending the argument.
Even then Yuri was still struggling to hold in laughter as he complained, "Come on, that's not fair…"
"All's fair in love and war, kiddo!"
"Um…" Everyone looked at Alice and she asked, "Is everyone ready to go? Because it's about half past eleven, so I was thinking that Halley and the others might want to eat. Unless you're not hungry?"
"Yes we are!" Joshua pumped a fist into the air, all ready to finally start eating.
"Then let's go," she said. "Is everyone ready? Here, I'll take one of the baskets for you Yuri. Margarete, why don't you take this one…?
**
They were a little more than halfway to the park when Margarete nudged Alice. Everyone else was already involved in their own conversation or game, and she had just noticed something.
"You're wearing the cross," she pointed out. She shifted the basket to point at her own neck.
Alice was surprised by the remark, and still looked down even though she knew which cross she was wearing. The fine silver cross shone in the bright sunlight.
"Yuri gave it to me…or more like, he let me keep it," she said. Margarete nodded; Yuri had often given it to Alice, since it could help a person remain calm. It had helped Alice out a lot.
"So, did he say 'here, you can have this'…or did he just forget?"
"I asked him…on the train ride here. He said that I should keep it…" She looked upwards with a happy smile, then looked at Margarete. "He said it looked beautiful on me."
"He's a flatterer," she said, rolling her eyes.
Alice laughed and lightly shoved Margarete with her shoulder. "He is not. But, um…what about you and Keith…?"
"Wha-What?" Margarete was startled. "Why would you think something like that?"
"Oh, nothing," Alice said, sounding a little disappointed. "Yuri thought that you might like Keith."
"I do…as a friend…"
Alice shook her head. "No, he thought you might be in love with him."
"Yeah right! He's slept half his life away, he's possessive with the stupid sword, and he's stupid too!"
The exorcist looked at her friend, totally confused. "You did just say you like him as a friend, didn't you?"
"Half the time. That counts. He's sleeping the other half, so I guess he wouldn't mind that."
"Why do you hate him when he's sleeping?"
Margarete had only been joking of course, making fun of the fact that out of four hundred years to live he had slept for two hundred of them, but she found herself taking the question seriously. "I don't hate him when he's sleeping…after all that's the one time when he shuts up," she added lightly.
Alice sighed, figuring she probably wasn't going to get a straight answer out of Margarete anytime soon. It was rather typical. Early on, Zhuzhen had constantly tried to figure out where Margarete was from by asking her both blunt and subtler questions. She had always stumped him though, with roundabout answers that always satisfied him until he later realized she hadn't really answered the question at all. They would probably never know where she was from; even Margarete might not be her real name, although she said it was.
"Hey you two! Don't be such slowpokes!" Yuri called. The rest of the group was quite ahead of both them and him, and he waved for them to hurry up.
"Maybe…I like Keith," Margarete admitted, making Alice look at her in surprise. "But c'mon…we better catch up."
**
Persephone sat alone, high in a treetop, trying to make sense of what she felt about the auras. It was troublesome.
Oh, locating Hyuga's had been easy, of course…it was as natural to her as her own aura. And of course, that girl was nearby him. Both were coming in her direction it seemed. Another make-out session in the park, she thought in disgust.
However, there were several more auras nearby them, also coming in the same direction. So, maybe they had others with them?
What's going on though? Why so many? Damn…I should've checked before I left…
Also, the variety of classes amongst them puzzled her. There was one for every element and doubles for some. Why though? Was it by coincidence, or design?
Most of them felt very powerful, but there were some differences. The one of water class felt very weak--at first, and it would have continued to seem that way to someone less experienced. But Persephone's skills required an ability to read auras well, and there was a hidden power underneath-rather like a well, she thought. She tended to connect how auras behaved with the classes' attributes. There was also one of earth. This one seemed powerful, but it was also subtle, a little unusual for an earth class. And one of air seemed rather volatile.
Several of them were obviously well trained. Another had little training, but was decent--for a mortal. That would cause a lot of difficulties, seeing as she'd only planned for two people. Once again she cursed at her lack of foresight. Briefly she contemplated heading back and asking Regina--but no. She had gotten herself into this, and she would get Hyuga to see Regina by herself.
A first attack, to test them. That way she could see if there were any weaknesses, and then exploit them in a second attack with all her energy. Yes. That would be the wisest course of action.
Her hand reached to her left side and brushed against cold metal. "Time to get to work," she said with a soft smile.
**
"Wow, I'm full," Yuri said, leaning back and patting his stomach. "That was good."
"You should be full," Margarete said. "You practically inhaled that stuff!"
"Just like you did at breakfast," Koudelka said.
Margarete looked embarrassed at having this pointed out. "Well, kind of…"
There was still a little food left, but just like Yuri, everyone was full. In fact, everyone else had been done for twenty minutes and had watched as Yuri proved that he did, indeed, have hollow legs.
"This is a really nice place," Koudelka said, leaning forward. "I saw a lot of people here. Most of them seem very friendly."
Zhuzhen nodded his agreement. "It's very peaceful. I didn't feel any evil at all…"
Alice started cleaning up the plates, while she explained, "Nothing bad has happened in a long time…I'd say never but once."
"Once?" Keith asked. "What happened that one time?"
Alice bit her lip. "Well, um…I don't really remember what happened, because well…I was possessed."
Everyone stared at her. An exorcist being possessed? There were some cases they'd heard of, but it was very rare. And also usually because of the exorcist's carelessness or some other fault, so it was even rarer for them to admit it.
"Don't give me those looks!" she said defensively. "It was seven years ago. I was only thirteen or fourteen…it was actually the first exorcism I helped my father with. Something went wrong, and the spirit possessed me instead."
"So what happened?" Chris asked curiously. She and Halley were still listening to the talk, although Sharon and Joshua had gotten bored long ago and were now playing tag with some other children.
"Well…I really don't remember anything after that." They had expected that, since a person usually didn't remember what they did after being exorcised. "The first thing I do remember is waking up in the church. Somehow the spirit had fooled my father into taking it all the way back, and only then did it reveal itself. It caused quite some trouble. No one was harmed though, it seemed. But my mother was furious. She wouldn't even let my father come in the house for a week. And it was a while before she'd let me out on another exorcism." She frowned, and said softly, "Now she won't let me at all…"
"Just give it some time," Yuri said confidently. "After all, we've got to visit Halley and Koudelka after they go to America, right?"
She looked at him, thinking about it. "You know, that does sound like it would be fun. But," she said with a grin, "Are you sure you could handle being on a boat that long?"
Yuri's smile turned into a grimace, and he looked green just from the thought of it.
"It shouldn't be that bad," Koudelka said thoughtfully. "You said you were on a fishing boat last time, right? Larger ships don't rock nearly as much as small boats do. You'd probably be fine."
Halley nodded and said to Yuri, "so you'd better come like you said you would."
"As long as you don't pester me about it," he said, sticking out his tongue at Halley. In turn, Halley stuck out his tongue and they began making grotesque faces at each other.
Margarete rolled her eyes and pronounced, "A little immaturity combines and becomes much more immature." She looked at Zhuzhen and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
His eyes were shut and he looked like he was trying to concentrate on something. "Alice, do you feel anything strange?"
She looked surprised, and looked around. Her surprise turned into puzzlement and she said, "Why didn't I notice it before? There's something…I don't know what it is. It's troubling though… something not quite right."
"Huh?" Yuri turned away from Halley to look at them. "What are you talking about?"
"Halley, go get Joshua and Sharon," Koudelka said. Halley wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, but he could also feel an aura, wrapped in darkness. He got up and started walking briskly towards where he had last seen them playing.
A far off scream made him quicken into a sprint.
**
Despite what Alice and Zhuzhen had felt, they were all startled when they heard the first scream. Then another followed, someone screaming for help. Yuri swore and got up, with everyone else following him. "Koudelka! Can you and Chris wait here for Halley to come back?"
She nodded, knowing that the children were expecting her to be here. And if there was a serious problem, Chris would only make things worse for the others. The screams were coming from the west, outside of the park. Fortunately, she'd last seen Sharon and Joshua playing near the south entrance to the park, so they should be alright. Hopefully.
She was wrong.
**
"Sharon! Joshua!" Halley called, starting to panic. They had just been here five minutes ago. Why were they already gone? "Sharon!"
"Halley! Help!"
"Help!"
That was Joshua's voice, and other children were also calling for someone to rescue them. Halley spun around to the right and ran as fast as he could, getting his slingshot ready. But he wasn't prepared for what he saw.
Monsters. Five monsters that were some demented version of the birdmen he had often seen circled around the children as they flailed their arms, trying hopelessly to beat them away. Their beaks snapped and they cawed mockingly. Fortunately, the children only had light injuries it seemed, but Halley was immediately angry. He took a few metal balls from a pouch he carried, pulled one back in the slingshot, and hit the nearest of the mutated birds directly in the head. The ball hit it so hard that the bird instantly fell down and died.
These things are pretty weak, he thought. The only problem was how close they were to the children. As soon as that one had died, they had moved even further in. If he hit one of the children…
He reached down and picked up a large stone from the street, throwing it near the birds to get their attention and jeering, "Hey! Bird brains!" He threw a few more stones, gaining their attention and ire. They hissed as their large arms dragged them along the street to him with more speed than he'd thought possible. Quickly he aimed and shot two of the birds, killing them like the first. But a third only slowed the bird down and its companion latched onto his right arm with its beak. He cried out in pain and sent a rush of air that knocked both back several feet into a building, killing them.
"Halley! Halley! Are you alright?" Joshua asked, his eyes wide as he watched the arm bleed. Halley nodded and held out his other hand over his arm, healing it slowly. He then looked around and noticed something. "Joshua, where's Sharon?" he asked. He could still feel more of that weird aura, and he was sure there were probably still monsters around.
"I don't know!"
Halley had been scanning the area for anymore monsters, but now his full attention was on Joshua. "What do you mean, you don't know?!"
"We started playing hide-and-seek, and we still haven't found Sharon!" he explained.
Halley felt like screaming. There were monsters around and Sharon was missing? "Is there anyone else who wasn't found?"
Joshua nodded. "There's another boy, Christopher."
"Okay, all you guys, you have to help me find them, okay?" he said, now talking to everyone. He had to stay calm. "But we all have to stay close together, in case there are any more monsters." He didn't doubt that the kids would all follow his advice; they all looked terrified at the mere idea of being left alone. "Does anyone know where they might be?"
One girl started walking in one direction. "Christopher went this way, I saw him!" she said. Halley nodded and started walking quickly in that direction, listening for any more screams.
**
"What…the hell…are these THINGS?"
"Dammit, how the hell did these things get here?"
No one really knew how to answer either question. They looked a little like small monkeys, in a way, except they had wings, and were hairless with blue faces. And Alice seemed bewildered by the mere idea that there could be monsters in her town. At the moment, these creatures were tormenting the townspeople, not only clawing and sometimes biting them, but also stealing things. People were, of course, trying to run away, but the monkeys--or whatever they were--were both persistent and fast.
"Well, we gotta stop them somehow," Yuri said. "A quick fusion and-"
"Wait!" Alice said. "People will see you."
He growled in frustration and said, "Fine. I guess fusions are out. But we have to take these things out. Who can fight?"
"I don't have a weapon, so I'll just have to use my magic," Alice said.
"Same here," Keith said, giving Margarete a dirty look. "You told me to leave my sword behind."
"Well I didn't think we'd be entertaining the little blue monkeys from hell!" she yelled at him. Out of one of the inside pockets of her jacket, she grabbed her gun. "Got mine."
"Just be sure you don't hit anyone," Zhuzhen said worriedly. "Margarete and Yuri are the only people who can fight then. We'll just have to stay back and use magic." This was directed to Alice and Keith, who both nodded.
"This is going to be fun," Margarete said sarcastically. She took aim and shot a monkey in the wing. It fell down while the woman it'd been attacking ran, screaming her lungs out. She then leisurely aimed and shot it in the head. Hopefully that would kill it, although some monsters could survive a bullet in the head. Yuri immediately went into the part where they were thickest, punching and kicking anything blue. Unfortunately, his punches weren't as strong as they were normally, since he'd left his claws behind.
The others were a bit more methodical. Alice cast Blessed Light, afraid of using Advent and harming people instead of monsters. Instead of casting spells that he knew could easily get out of control, Zhuzhen focused on healing. Keith cast Larva often and at many.
The monkeys were more annoying than they were tough. Gradually they were being worn down by Yuri's and Margarete's attack, as well as the others' spells. Also, as they noticed more of their number being killed by this group of people, they turned their attention more to them, allowing more people to escape. Eventually, there were no more people left.
At this point, Margarete yelled for Yuri to go back and he looked at her, confused. She held aloft a grenade and, quickly getting the point, got back, trying to ignore the monkeys screeching and grabbing at him. She pulled the pin and then lobbed it at one crowd of them, killing some and leaving more injured. Alice then summoned Advent, wiping out the rest.
"How's everyone?" she gasped, tired from casting so many spells. She had some blood on herself, but she was already starting to heal her wounds. Zhuzhen healed both Keith and himself, and then both of them checked on the wounds of Yuri and Margarete.
"We better check on Koudelka and Chris," Yuri said. "Halley should be back with them by now."
"No, not yet," Alice said. "There's still a few monsters."
"Where?"
"South. No, now they're--gone? And Sharon's summoned a monster, it seems."
"Well if they're gone, let's go back," Margarete said. "Look, this place is deserted now."
Alice looked around and saw that she was right; the street was devoid of pedestrians, and the park felt oddly empty. "They're afraid because of the monsters. What happened, anyways?" she asked. "What made them come here?"
"We'll figure it out," Zhuzhen said. "For now, let's make sure the others are alright."
**
Halley had finally found Christopher, a small six-year-old who had been huddled for over thirty minutes in his hiding spot, not making a sound for fear of being heard by the monsters. It took a long time to coax him out of hiding, and he was reluctant to talk.
"All I want to know is if you've seen Sharon," he said quietly. "Did you see her?"
After five minutes of asking and being refused by silence, he was answered. The boy looked up shyly, his green eyes still full of fear and said, "She went after some of the monsters when they were chasing people."
"She went after…God…" Halley muttered. He didn't feel anything evil anymore, which meant those monsters must've been taken care of somehow, but Sharon could rarely restrain the monsters she summoned. They could end up hurting someone. "Joshua, take everyone back to Koudelka, I'll keep looking for Sharon."
**
Sharon was crying, as the wolf in front of her growled. How had she messed up the summoning this time? She'd thought she'd done it right…just once…
"Nice doggy…" she sniffled, trying to back away. The wolf's eyes gleamed and it leaped forward, grazing her arm as she snatched it away. The cuts hurt, but it hurt even worse because of her confusion. She had summoned this wolf. So why was it hurting her?
The wolf approached closer, making her back more into the corner she was in. Trapped in between garbage cans and buildings. All she wanted was for the wolf to leave her alone now. "Why won't you do? Why won't you do what I want you to do?" She reached out a trembling hand, hoping this time, maybe it would calm down.
Instead it growled louder and she took her hand back again. There was a gleam in its eyes she didn't like…it didn't like her at all…it snapped its teeth at her and she stumbled, falling to the ground and curling up into a ball, crying in terror. It was going to kill her. She could feel it.
But then, she heard a few notes, like the beginning of a song, calm and soothing. The wolf kept growling at first, but then it gradually quieted. She waited a long time to feel its teeth again, but instead she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
She looked up through tear-blurred vision at a girl, about twelve or thirteen she would guess. She had long, beautiful dark hair. "Y-yes." Sharon heard a soft whimpering and gasped as she saw the wolf, standing next to them.
The girl laughed softly and said, "Don't worry. He's friendly now, see?" She held out a hand and the wolf licked it like a dog looking for food as she giggled.
Sharon saw a flute, suspended by a cord around the girl's waist. "Did you do that?" she asked.
"Yes. I'm a summoner, you see." She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "Did you summon this wolf?"
Sharon nodded, shaking the dark brown hair out of her eyes. "Yeah. He got rid of these weird monsters for me." She looked down and said softly. "But then…he started growling at me. What…do you know what I did wrong? No one's trained me, so I can't control them."
"No one's trained you?" the girl said curiously. She looked reluctant, but she finally nodded. "Hmm…then, maybe I should teach you something about summoning."
"You'll teach me?!"
"Yes. I will." She thought for a while and then said, "Do you know what a Bifronze looks like?"
Sharon tried to remember what a Bifronze looked like and then nodded.
"Summon one."
She was confused, but decided to trust the girl anyway and concentrated on a Bifronze. The monster appeared, waving its scythe and approaching the two girls in a threatening manner. Sharon gasped and wanted to run, but the girl gripped her shoulders tightly.
"No, girl. Listen to me; there is only one basic rule in summoning: don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of the monster. Reach out to it. Reach out to it with your mind."
"How…?"
"Any summoner can do that much. It is a part of the bond between summoner and monster." She waited a minute and then asked, "Do you feel that bond?"
"Yes." And she did; it was like a thread that wound around both her and the Bifronze. She could also sense there had once been a thread between her and the wolf, but that it was now broken.
"Trace it, and it will lead you into its mind."
Sharon obediently traced it and shuddered at what she felt. At first, it felt like a kind of playfulness. But underneath, there was hatred and a desire to hurt people, a desire to kill them. "I don't like this," she whispered. "I don't like this at all."
"Listen. Accept what you feel in there. Forget about yourself; become the monster. That is the only way for you to control it. Do you understand?"
Sharon tried it a bit, but she didn't like it. It was too much, of anger and hate and pain.
"Do you understand?" the girl repeated.
I have to do this so I can control my monsters, Sharon thought. I understand that much. "Yes."
"Then forget. Forget what it means to be human, forget about everything you've known. All that matters is the monster's instincts and desires."
And at first gradually, then quickly, Sharon forgot. She let go some things and found herself being forced to let go of more and more until there was nothing. There was no Koudelka. There was no Chris. There was no Halley. There was no Joshua.
There was no Sharon. There was only the Bifronze.
"Now," came a whisper, into her ear, "Summon more."
**
Persephone watched as the girl's eyes glazed over. Her stomach was churning; the girl had been telling the absolute truth. No one had trained her, or else she'd never do such a foolish thing. But she was. She was actually allowing the monster to take over her mind.
Oh God, she felt sick just watching this happen. And she had caused it. Self-hatred boiled inside of her, but she tried to fight down the guilt. It's just a foolish little girl, she told herself. Besides, after this, she'll never make the same mistake again.
No, she wouldn't make the same mistake again, she'd be too busy having nightmares the rest of her life.
Everyone else is in their houses. They're the only ones out, and they're all capable of handling a Bifronze.
And what if one of them couldn't? What if she killed someone with the monsters?
It's too late now, anyway.
Yes. It was too late. Much too late, she realized as she looked at the girl again. Her eyes were totally blank, she'd given her entire self up. There was a peculiar smile on her face, one of wickedness. That was definitely the Bifronze now.
Quickly, before the girl went entirely out of control, she whispered into her ear, "Now, summon more."
And she did. At least a dozen more Bifronzes appeared out of thin air and Persephone quickly teleported away. They would be out for blood now, and serve as a useful distraction, at least for awhile.
She shouldn't have done it. But she had done it. It was too late to change it now.
It's too late to change anything.
**
They had been a bit off. Not everyone was gone; panicking mothers and fathers were combing through the park for their missing children. When Joshua brought the children over, Koudelka called out and there was a brief and happy reunion between the worried parents and children. But Yuri and the others were more worried about the two still missing.
"Halley's looking for Sharon? I hope she's all right after those monsters…"
"Don't worry," Joshua said confidently. "She can take care of any monsters with her own."
"That might be a problem too," Chris told him, watching the children quickly make their way home with their parents. "If she loses control…"
"Damn!" Zhuzhen cursed. "That aura's still here though."
Yuri looked at Alice and said, "Please tell me he's wrong."
She bit her lip very hard and concentrated. After a minute, she looked back at him and said, "Would you like me to lie?"
"Aw crap." Yuri, thought about this, trying to think of what they should do now, when he heard the faint notes of a flute, being carried by the wind. His fusion souls seemed to react to the music, but instead of causing a headache, they began to whisper, separate.
"And just where is it?" Margarete asked, but Alice shook her head.
"I can't tell. Can you Zhuzhen?"
"Not at all."
"Let's separate into two groups," Yuri said. The idea was a pretty good one, even if he was confused by the souls suggesting it. "We'll go opposite ways. Um…Zhuzhen, you come with me. Alice, Keith and Margarete…sound alright?"
"No, it's fine," Alice said, although she looked a bit puzzled.
"Alright then. We'll go--"
North. Head north.
"What's wrong?" Margarete asked. Yuri realized his hand was at his forehead and he quickly put it down.
"Nothing. Zhuzhen and me are gonna head north of the park. You guys should go south. We'll find out who's doing this and then decide what to do. Be careful," he said, rather unnecessarily. His mind was on why the fusion souls were telling him to do things. Was it possible they felt something to the north? Maybe it was the person with the strange aura…but then why were they also telling him to split up people?
Oh well. Zhuzhen and him would just go check out the north side and if they found anything, then decide. If it looked like they could take out the person on their own, they would do so. And if they couldn't, they would come back and then talk things over with the others.
It was a reliable plan. So why, he wondered as they split up, leaving Koudelka to take care of the kids again, did it feel like such a bad one?
**
A Harmonixer seems to be basically the same as a summoner, Persephone thought. It would make sense; it was in their blood, after all. Still, she was surprised that the two seemed so similar. If they were mostly the same, why had the first Harmonixer been banished? The differences between the two seemed so trivial. What mattered was the purpose: to direct the advantages of monsters over humans into a purpose.
Although, there were some large differences that were obvious. A harmonixer depended completely on the quality, since the quantity was already fixed at one. A summoner usually tried to strike a balance, using the best monsters that they could obtain at the highest number that they were comfortable with. And a summoner couldn't turn into a monster--or could they? She'd never heard of anyone trying, and she certainly wasn't about to try it herself. Suppose a summoner could…? No, they probably couldn't, or else the only difference between Harmonixers and summoners would be the technique, and why banish someone for discovering a new technique?
But they definitely both had a bond with the monsters they used. She had just exploited Yuri's bond with his souls, telling them to come north and expecting them to pass on the message. It was a common trick, one summoner fooling another's monsters with false information to lure them into a trap.
At least Yuri was coming, though with another, one of the fire auras. She sighed. Well, at least she had fewer to deal with. The others would probably be taken care of by the little girl…the girl she had practically destroyed-
She bit her lip hard, forcing herself back into reality. The girl didn't matter, nor did the others. They could go kill each other for all she cared. What difference did a handful of mortals make?
Her goal was Hyuga. And Persephone would make sure he was alone when they finally met again. Time to separate him from the other…
**
"Better not drop off," Zhuzhen muttered. The comment snapped Yuri back to reality and he looked at the Adept, who was surprisingly walking faster than he was.
"Huh?"
Zhuzhen looked back at Yuri, raising an eyebrow in question. "What on earth are you thinking about? You've got to be alert."
"It's just…fusion monsters acting up again."
"Really? You don't seem to be in pain."
Yuri shook his head. "They're not bothered…it's just that they're acting weird. Never mind, forget it." He lengthened his stride to quickly catch up with Zhuzhen and looked around, trying to see whatever the spirits could sense. But there was nothing.
They reached the north entrance and looked around. Even though the street was less crowded than in larger towns, it felt odd to see absolutely no one walking or riding in a carriage.
"This is weird," Yuri said.
"So you feel it too?"
Yuri turned to Zhuzhen and asked, "Feel what?"
"The aura's gotten stronger."
Yuri rolled his eyes. "Come on, old man, you know I'm bad with sensing auras. Huh? The flute…?"
He could still hear it playing, except now the fusion souls were calming down. Like it didn't concern them anymore. Wait a second…
"Zhuzhen, come on!" he said, running towards the music.
"What is it?"
He couldn't believe it had taken him this long to remember. "The flute! That's the aura!"
Zhuzhen had no clue what the kid was babbling about, but he could also hear a flute, faintly playing. And the kid was right, the aura did seem to be getting closer. But he could feel others, swelling up…
"Get back, Yuri!" he yelled, but Yuri didn't stop and in fact was rammed into by a frog. A large frog.
"God, I hate these things…" he muttered, lying on his back. Hearing ribbits, he looked up to see at least ten of the large frogs. He absolutely despised these things. But it didn't matter. If he could get to the flute, if it was who he thought it was, the monsters shouldn't be a problem. He quickly got up and pummeled the offending frog until it was flipped onto its back, practically helpless. One sharp kick penetrating the guts finished it off. "Hey Zhuzhen!" he yelled. "Forget the frogs, they don't matter."
In fact, the frogs themselves seemed to know they didn't matter; when he ran to get through, they all quickly moved aside. But then they circled around Zhuzhen, who struggled to get through.
"Kid, wait-" Zhuzhen would have said more, but then the frogs' large tongues wrapped around him, making him fall and curse--until one tongue also wrapped around his mouth. He was disgusted, but not so much that he failed to realize something.
They knew to let Yuri through. Monsters can't work in sync this well. Someone's controlling them. And he's letting Yuri getting closer to him…
A trap. He wanted to yell at the kid to stop, but the repulsive tongue was wrapped, all around his head. He could barely breathe. But…the monsters weren't hurting him. Whoever was controlling them wasn't concerned with him at all. Only with Yuri…
Dammit kid, it's a trap!
**
"The aura's gotten farther away, it seems," Keith said, looking carefully around.
Margarete just shrugged from her post. "I couldn't tell you. So should we get back then?"
Alice shook her head. "No. There's something here, definitely…but what is it? It feels…just a little…Sharon?" she called. She knew she had felt Sharon's aura, just a bit in this direction, but it now seemed very faint. Had she moved somewhere else?
"Margarete. Have your gun ready." Keith looked at Alice and pointed to the west. "Feel anything in that direction?"
Her eyes widened. She'd been so wrapped up in trying to figure out the two confusing auras--Sharon's and the unknown's--that she hadn't even sensed the monsters that were nearby. She could feel them coming.
"It's more than one," Alice said. "You might want a grenade instead."
Margarete was ready and they stared at the street's intersection, wondering what might come around the corner. A small shadow appeared first, and then the outline of a scythe. Finally, one appeared. Alice was startled.
"Wind shears?"
Margarete smiled grimly. "Don't you remember these Alice? It's a relative. Bifronze." She closed one hand over the pin, ready to pull. They could hear the sound of their demonic laughter as a second and then a third joined the first. But from the sound, even more were hiding around the corner. Margarete shook her head. "These things play hide-and-seek? I'm really not in the mood for games." She shook her head and pulled the pin, lobbing it directly in the center of the three.
The grenade landed next to the middle one. It looked at the grenade and grinned. Then it turned its scythe over and, using it like some kind of golf club shot the grenade back at them.
"Get down!" Alice screamed, ducking and covering her head. The others did the same and the grenade exploded over them, cutting them with shrapnel. She cried out in pain, but the injuries weren't too bad. She didn't think she needed to heal them yet. Getting up quickly, Alice looked at the others. "Are either of you hurt?"
Keith concentrated and the Bifronze screamed as its energy was sucked from it and used to heal him. He would be fine as well.
"Margarete?"
Margarete seemed…she was not all right.
"Oh, holy hell," she whimpered. That was impossible. Bifronzes were too stupid to do something like that. Hell, she had thrown grenades at them plenty of times and they had never figured out that it was a weapon on the first try. And they would never figure out to throw the grenade back. Usually they just stared at it until it exploded. Sometimes the smarter ones tried to run away, but never…ever…
Alice walked over to her and touched her shoulder. "Margarete? Margarete?" She noticed some blood, trickling from her hands and head. She must have been dazed by the hit, Alice decided. "Keith, can you cover us for a minute?" She began to focus on healing the injury.
Keith nodded and, as the Bifronzes approached, decided on a spell. "Gift!" he called. The spell took place, and immediately all three fell over, dead. But from around the corner, replacements came, this time with a fourth as well.
By this time the healing spell had taken some effect and, though still confused by how an idiotic monster pulled a stunt like that, Margarete was determined not to let it happen again. Let's see them play golf with this, she thought, pulling out her gun. A few snipes to the head, and down they would go. She couldn't resist a grin. Alice pulled back and got ready for more fighting.
"We can't use too many big spells," Alice said to Keith. "Unless you have some mana leaves on you."
"Damn," he cursed, wishing they had had a bit of advance notice about a fight. If their minds became fatigued from casting spells, that was it. Trying to cast more than could be handled resulted often in a collapse. And now was not the time to be fainting. "Margarete, you'll have to take care of these."
"Just leave it to me," she said, sounding much more confident now. She shot once at a Bifronze, making it drop its scythe as it marched forward. Still it continued, until she shot it in the leg. Then, just to make sure it died, she shot it in the chest. The next one she aimed and shot right in the head and it fell. The third she was also able to take care of, but the fourth got way too close to them for comfort, managing to catch Alice's arm with its scythe before she hit it with Blessed Light. That was a relatively easy spell, so there couldn't be much harm in casting it.
There was still laughter from behind the corner and Keith frowned. It sounded like their laughter, wild and shrieking, but it also sounded like there was something else laughing with them, something human. "Someone must be controlling them," he said. "And I think they're having fun at our expense too."
It'd be easiest just to take out the person controlling them, because usually that was enough to get rid of the monsters. However, if they tried to go around the corner, they could be ambushed. Margarete decided to call the person out. "Hey! We're sick of playing around! Come on out!"
That brought a definite reaction. The Bifronzes were suddenly silent, as though waiting for a reply also. They heard a girl's giggle, and realized that it sounded familiar. Too familiar.
"Can't be…" Margarete shook her head and called again, "Come on out!"
Three Bifronzes appeared, deadly silent. Somehow, their silence was worse than their mocking laugh. Then a fourth figure came out, the only one laughing now. The laughter changed from high-pitched giggles to a low laugh and back.
Alice, Keith, and Margarete were all astonished. "Sharon…what are you doing…?" Alice asked. It didn't seem like they'd get an answer. Even from a distance, something seemed terribly wrong about her. And Alice still couldn't sense her aura, even though she was right there. Instead, it felt like…there were four Bifronzes in front of them…
She stopped giggling as she bent down and picked up the scythe one of the Bifronzes had dropped. Sharon swung and pointed it at Alice, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. "What am I doing? I'm playing! Margarete, Keith, Alice…let's play!"
**
"Zhuzhen! Zhuzhen!"
What the hell happened? Yuri wondered as he waited for an answer. None came. I thought Zhuzhen was right behind me! But when he had looked, he had seen nobody, nothing.
Was he in trouble? Yuri shook his head, wouldn't he have heard if something happened to Zhuzhen? The old guy wasn't too senile not to shout or something.
Maybe they'd just gotten separated then? But how could Zhuzhen have lost sight of him? It was a clear day and Zhuzhen was fast enough to be able to keep sight of him.
Yuri shook his head again. Zhuzhen wasn't anywhere nearby, but the flute player was. He might as well find her. He began walking again towards her. Now she was playing a tune that he remembered, one she had played while they were keeping watch during the night. Because now he was sure he knew who the flute player was. The exorcist from his last job had played a flute too.
He caught sight of her, playing the melody while standing on top of a roof. Why is she so calm? "Lilia!"
She opened her eyes and caught sight of him. She looked around, then smiled and sat down at the edge. "Hello, Yuri."
"Mind giving us a hand down here?" he called, a little perplexed. Something felt off. He was sure it was the same girl, but now…something about her attitude was different. She didn't feel like the same person. But that might have been just her clothes. Instead of the long green dress he had last seen her wearing, she now had on a much shorter, light red dress and some bizarre sandals. Oh well. That didn't matter. "There's some monsters back there," he said, pointing the way he had come. "And there might be more. Wanna help?"
She smiled and shook her head. "Don't worry. They'll be gone soon."
Now he was definitely confused. He knew that her flute could get rid of monsters--she'd used a trick like that on the banshees--but it'd been playing when they were with the frogs, and it hadn't seemed to affect them. "I think you've got to get closer Lilia. They weren't leaving last time I saw."
Lilia laughed and said, "because I don't want them to leave yet. See, Yuri? Now you're all alone."
Yuri just shook his head. What on earth was going on? He found himself growing more suspicious of the exorcist. "Why's that important?" he asked.
She closed her eyes and said, "Because you haven't been listening to Regina. She thought all she'd have to do is find you in the Graveyard and you would listen to her, but you had to rip out her heart again." She looked at him with accusing eyes, but he didn't really care.
My dreams…She's talking about my dreams…That means…That means they weren't just dreams! The woman's a fire class…some worship her as a goddess…can she really be Regina?
"What the hell does she want from me?" he demanded.
"How should I know? But I promised her you'd listen tonight. So I'm going to make a deal with you, Yuri."
"No!" he yelled. "If you're not going to help, fine. But I've got some monsters to take care of." He turned away from her, but a soft high note and screams began in his head, making him fall to his knees.
"You're right. You do have monsters to take care of Yuri…but it's the ones in you that you have to worry about the most. I'll be taking them now. If you want them back, be sure to listen very carefully to Regina tonight."
Take them? How can she do that?! Again, Yuri tried to walk away from the exorcist, almost at a run, but as soon as she played the first note, he froze. His whole body locked up, refusing to do anything. Why? He knew her flute had some kind of magic in it, but when she'd played it before, he'd been fine.
The fusion souls. "Damn," he hissed as his body began trembling. They were all going berserk at the music, a strange and haunting melody. Summoner, summoner! they cried out, entranced by the music. She wasn't an exorcist at all, but a summoner.
The souls were trying to go to her. The music, it was through the music. She was enticing them. Yuri was on the ground now; sweat dripping off of his forehead as his body tried to deal with twenty spirits trying to escape and one trying to contain them all. There was civil war between Harmonixer and fusion souls. It was unbearable, but he still tried to contain them, breathing in short gasps at each stab of pain going through his head. Their cries built up into begging, and then screaming and shrieking and cursing, making the migraine pound harder and harder.
Too much. There was just too much pain, his hands were starting to claw at his own body, tearing at his head, as the souls tried to claw their own way out and finally, he let go. Yuri released all of them, and he screamed.
**
"Okay, how much sugar did she eat?" Margarete deadpanned.
"Sharon…I can't sense Sharon. At all," Alice said. "So it's either an illusion or…"
"Or?"
Alice shook her head. "It can't be an illusion. Bifronzes can't do illusions, and there doesn't seem to be anything else around. But if it's not an illusion, then something …really bad has happened to her."
Keith was silent for a moment, and then he said, "Leave Sharon for last. She can't be that much of a threat. These three seem to be the last of the Bifronzes, so how about we use some stronger spells now?" He targeted the Bifronze closest to him and began casting Larva, managing to kill it before it got too close. Alice began praying to God and building up the strength to cast Blessed Light.
The first Bifronze attacked Alice while she was trying to cast. She managed to avoid the first swing but the second cut into her thigh. She stumbled but cast Blessed Light directly into the Bifronze's face. She wished she had her book with her. It would be so much easier if she did.
The third Bifronze was Margarete's. She pulled the trigger and then cursed when the gun didn't shoot. She lost some time loading the gun and couldn't get a shot in before Sharon raised her scythe and in a swift blow both knocked the gun away and cut open Margarete's hand. Margarete grabbed her scythe and tried to wrestle it away from Sharon. But the Bifronze was raising its scythe and was about to bring it down, when Keith cast Larva on it, followed by Alice casting Blessed Light again. The Bifronze staggered back, and then fell forward.
Margarete finally got Sharon away from the scythe, actually throwing her down onto the ground. She looked down at Sharon while trying to regain her breath, then turned around and started searching for her gun, holding her injured hand with the other.
Alice ran over to the girl while she was trying to get back up. She was crying. "Sharon? Are you alright?"
She got no response but a choked sob. "Sharon, what happened?" Alice asked, kneeling down. Keith began walking over to them, also worried about the girl.
"You…you killed them…" She looked at Alice, her eyes filled with hate. "I hate you!" she screamed, lunging at Alice.
At this point, Sharon was no longer playful. She bit and scratched and tore as much as she could until Keith grabbed her and held her arms tight against her body while she screamed and cursed him. He struck her against the head hard enough to knock her out, but hopefully not do anything permanent.
"Are you alright Alice?!" Margarete asked, kneeling by her.
"Um…yeah," she said. "I've had worse."
"Is there anything else here?"
Alice shook her head and began healing herself. There was nothing big, just a lot of shallow injuries that quickly healed. "Let's get back to Koudelka. I hope she knows what's wrong with Sharon."
**
Halley had finally given up. He hadn't been able to sense Sharon in a while, and he thought it would be best to check up on how the others were doing. He could tell his mom was still in the park, since he was most familiar with her aura, so he thought to go there.
So he was walking back, towards the park when he heard the scream. It came from his right, and before he even realized it he was running in that direction.
Yuri. He had never heard Yuri scream before, but he knew somehow that it was him. And if Yuri was screaming, then he was in serious trouble.
He turned onto the street and past four stores, he could see Yuri lying on the street face down. It almost seemed like he was sleeping, until Halley came closer and saw his head and face bleeding. His nails were red with blood. He did this to himself? No way…
Something about him felt different, too. But he didn't get a chance to think about it as a girl said, "He's all right. Just fainted. I guess he's nothing special without the fusion souls."
Halley looked up and stared at the girl above him. A pale brunette sat on the roof, examining him as he did her. A black flute that was glowing lay next to her. Then what she said started to register. "What do you mean, 'without the fusion souls'?" he asked suspiciously. "What are you doing out here?"
"I took his fusion souls from him," she said. "But he just couldn't take the extraction." She shrugged and stood up, looking like she was ready to leave. But Halley wouldn't let her. He quickly gave a warning shot that whizzed just above her head.
"I can do that lower if I have to," he said, getting another shot ready. "Who are you?"
The girl seemed amused by this and was smiling. "My name? Some call me Lilia, some call me Persephone."
Persephone? "Give Yuri back his fusion souls. Right now, Lilia." Persephone was too bizarre, it was from mythology. Probably was a code name or something.
"And you think I am actually going to listen to you?"
Halley adjusted his aim a bit lower and to the left, then shot, hitting the girl's right arm. She cried out in pain, glaring at him. "You'd better," he said.
"You're a friend of his, aren't you? Well, don't worry. He'll be getting his monsters back tomorrow," she said, and this time she managed to dodge the shot he gave. Why wouldn't he just listen to her and go away?
"Right now." She could just barely feel a tremor in the building beneath her as he spoke.
"I'm telling the truth!"
"Yeah right! Give me one good reason to believe you!"
Her eyes flashed with anger and she said, "I'll show you why." She brought the flute up and began playing a song with long, slow notes. The flute's glow turned green and a smoke mixed of both green and black came out, forming a cloud in front of her. Halley tried to shoot at the mass two times, but didn't hear any contact. Was she planning a sneak attack?
The cloud descended down, showing that she was still in the same place and still playing. When it was four feet above the ground, it stopped and began to take shape. First, the cloud lengthened and narrowed. Four long legs of greenish smoke stretched from the cloud to the ground. A tail formed behind it, as did a sphere at the front. The sphere became more and more defined until Halley realized that it was in the shape of a head with large ears and a huge jaw. The body also gained more definition. Eventually there was the silhouette of a gigantic wolf in front of him. Then, the smoke quickly turned into white fur and the wolf began growling. Halley could only stare at it in astonishment.
"This," Lilia said, pausing in the music to tell him, "Is Lobos's true form. Now, just take Yuri and leave, all right? You don't have to get hurt."
That aura. Now that he was so close to her, he realized what felt so odd about her aura; it felt almost identical to Yuri's. But that wasn't important. She was the person who had been summoning monsters, wasn't she? Stupid idiot…
"Go to hell!" he yelled at her. He sent a powerful rush of air at the wolf, expecting it to dissipate into smoke. After all, that was all it was, right?
But although the wolf was forced back by the wind, it remained solid and looked very mad. It started snarling and barking, ready to attack. Shit. What did he remember about Lobos? It was Yuri's best fusion from the earth class…so he should just keep using air class magic, right?
The wolf leaped at him, but Halley managed to dodge its jaws. He was sure that if it caught him in that massive thing he wouldn't get out. He lost its balance, though, and fell. His slingshot was knocked out of his hands as one of the paws landed on him. Panicking, he sent a more powerful Air Shot at the beast's stomach that managed to knock it off balance.
His shirt was torn and his shoulder bleeding now, but Halley tried to ignore that as he searched frantically for the slingshot. He finally saw it lying next to some bushes and concentrated. The slingshot vibrated, then flew back into his hands. A shot from it gouged Lobos's eye, while a second hit the head without seeming to do much. Lobos howled in fury and shook its head, knocking the metal ball loose. The eye then began to heal.
Oh. Right. Lobos could heal itself. What else could it do? The wolf stamped the ground with one of its massive feet, and walls of earth formed around it and then crumbled away, having made its body more resistant to attack.
Now the slingshot wouldn't be as useful. Halley debated using his magic, but then Lobos could just heal it. What if he aimed at the summoner, the girl? Then Lobos would be forced to sit still and heal her until it was exhausted. And she was busy playing to control the damn monster…
He took his slingshot and aimed at her. Her eyes had been closed while she was playing the flute, but suddenly opened before the ball hit her, like she'd been warned. It was too late for her to move and she was struck on the cheek. Lobos also flinched, as though it had also been hit. Two for one, Halley thought, that sounds pretty good. Lobos seemed confused by the halt of music as well.
But she hadn't been injured that badly. Halley was confused until he remembered the Lobos could protect all of his allies with one spell. So this time, he used magic. Since the girl's class was probably Darkness, and he didn't have any Light class attacks--pity Alice wasn't here--he continued to throw Air Shot at her.
It quickly turned into a repetitive fight. As long as he cast Air Shot at her, she was unable to control Lobos and couldn't even heal herself. She didn't seem to have any healing spells of her own, since she was making no effort to use them. And Lobos simply seemed confused.
But even as she was getting thrown around on the roof by the attacks, she remained conscious, and she seemed to be getting very angry. Just how stubborn is this girl? Halley wondered. He was starting to see black dots in front of his eyes. He couldn't keep up the spells much longer. "Hey, are you going to give up or not!"
The next spell he threw never hit her. When the wind was about to hit her, she threw up her hand and a wall of earth formed again, blocking the shot. Halley was startled. If she could do that, why hadn't she done it before?
She stood up slowly and dropped down from the roof. She wavered a bit on her feet, and Halley could see that her eyes were a pulsating, vivid green. But-hadn't they been brown before?
"We're angry now, boy," she said. At the same time, Lobos was growling. Her voice seemed different, and she almost seemed to snarl at him. "Why don't you just die?" she said, and then a slow smile started. "But before you die, let's have fun with you."
Halley looked at her, too startled by the sudden change to decide what he should do. Then, rock crashed into him from the back and he fell forward, meeting the ground hard. His back hurt and he knew he was bleeding. He lifted his head to see the pieces of rock laying around him and Lobos in back of him, approaching closer. Halley grabbed his slingshot and turned around, wincing at the pain that move brought and aimed at the wolf's stomach. But the protection spell was still in place and the pain only enraged Lobos further. Lobos grabbed Halley's arm, the same arm the birdmen had attacked, with its jaws and Halley screamed in pain, trying to cast one last Air Shot and get out. But he'd used too much magic and too much of his energy. The black dots appeared and he almost blacked out, but managed to hold onto consciousness. He tried to take his arm out of the grip, but that just brought more agony as he could feel the teeth tearing into his arm.
Maybe he could still use a weaker spell? Not Strong Earth. Aqua Blade. Water. He concentrated as best as he could and then water shot out at Lobos, forcing him to let go and go back. Halley used the chance to go back and used his slingshot again. But his arm was bleeding all over and weak. He tried to pull back the slingshot but wavered, giving Lobos enough time to bat him back down to the ground with his paws. The slingshot fell out of his hands, and this time Halley knew he wouldn't be able to get it back. Instead he tried a spell again--any spell, he didn't care what he used now.
And this time, his mind had definitely had enough. The spell failed, and he was helpless as Lobos picked him up with his jaws and shook him, like a dog with a bone. Pain shot through him and he began drifting in and out of consciousness. Here Lobos flung him down--and there, he reached out weakly in a pathetic attempt to take back his slingshot--then Lobos stepped on him with his front paws, making him cough up blood--
And as he finally fell unconscious, he could hear a girl screaming, shrieking, "Stop!"