Chapter 9- Most Wanted Part 2
A few weeks later
Rose's POV
"Get down!"
Alan yelled at me, I ducked and a person flew over me and hit the man I was fighting, the two rolled down the dirt road we were on, looking around I saw several men scattered on the ground, bleeding and with several broken bones. Were they dead? I don't know. I stopped caring a long time ago.
I saw that one of the men who had rolled down the road was getting up, before he could get up completely I ran to him, raised the baseball bat. According to Alan this metal club is called a baseball bat. What is baseball anyway? The man raised his head only to see me above him with the bat raised, I brought the bat down on top of his head, with a hard blow he fell to the ground bleeding.
When I looked to the side Alan was hitting a man's head against a tree near the road, when the man stopped fighting Alan stopped.
"This is the second group of bounty hunters we've encountered, if it continues like this I'll have to start using magic." Alan said as he approached.
"Lord Alan, if you allow me, I will finish off everyone who gets in your way." Noir said.
"Thanks Noir, but we've already attracted too much attention in Fool's Marsh, if we start destroying everything in front of us with magic, the situation will be worse than it already is."
"I understand, Lord Alan." Noir replied as he floated close to us.
"So Rose? How is Rubrum?" Alan asked me.
I patted the bag next to me, Rubrum was still there, she's been helping me during some fights, let's say blows I couldn't dodge were stopped by a red magic barrier.
"She's fine, a little quiet, but she seems to be happy."
"That's good to hear. Let's continue our journey, we are almost at the border." Alan replied.
TIMESKIP
Rose's POV
"This is worrying, extremely worrying!" Alan said beside me, he was nervous and rightfully so.
Ahead of us was a city, nothing wrong with that, the problem was what we were seeing from the city gate, bodies wrapped in pieces of cloth were piled through the streets, placed on carts, and buried in communal graves, the streets were still full of dead bodies. Sitting on the floor were people covered in dirt, wearing rags and begging for help, either from people or from some God, but no one came to help.
A man passing by began to convulse, then he vomited on the floor and passed out on top of his own vomit, a man came to his side and put his hand on his neck, he shook his head negatively and called two more men, together they started to wrap the corpse in cloths.
A woman came out of an alley knocking several people down, she was extremely pale, blood was pouring out of her mouth and nose, the woman scratched her body furiously, tearing her dress to reveal a body covered in blisters and pustules, each one of them being burst by her fingersnails and spilling pus on the floor.
I took a horrified step back, jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder.
"Rose let's hide in the woods." Alan said as he pointed to the trees near the city, we walked deep into the forest, to make sure we didn't catch the disease.
When we were far enough away we sat facing each other, an overwhelming silence took over the place.
"Lord Alan, Miss Rose, are you all right?" Noir said breaking the silence.
"I don't know Noir. Those people… so many bodies…" Alan replied.
"I had heard of plagues, but had never seen one in person, that was…" I couldn't finish.
Silence has returned, what should we do, we're so close to the border, but the plague is spreading, in Midgard the plagues spread like wildfire, it's going to be a matter of days before it spreads to the rest of Midgard.
"What will happen now?" I asked.
"First of all, a large number of deaths, with such a large part of the population dead, wages will rise in response to the shortage of labor. But worst of all are the persecutions, driven by religious fervor and fanaticism, various groups such as Jews, friars, foreigners, beggars, pilgrims, Muslims, lepers, sodomites and gypsies will be targets of persecution and found guilty of spreading the plague. Surely many will believe that the plague is a punishment from God." Alan replied.
"But none of these people are guilty, are they?"
"No, but they will still be persecuted, as the authorities and the church have no idea how to cure the plague."
"And you know?"
"No, but I know how to increase our chances of not getting sick."
"As?"
"Well, for starters we should take regular showers, wash our hands, we could get gloves from thick leather and masks made of thick fabric, social distancing also helps. After all, these were some of the measures taken when the plague began to spread in my Homeland."
"But that still doesn't solve our problem, how are we going to get to the border?"
Alan took the map out of his backpack and started looking at it "If we want to avoid catching the plague, we're going to need to go around the big cities, we must travel on little used roads and through forests, but this will delay us a few weeks. It's still better than getting sick, isn't it?"
"Yea."
"On the way we will stop in a small town, maybe the news of being wanted didn't reach there, in this town we can ask a seamstress to prepare the clothes necessary to survive this plague."
"I hope it doesn't end up like the last time we went to a seamstress." I said while shuddering."
"Come on, Maria wasn't that bad..."
"Lord Alan! There are people approaching!"
SNAP!
I heard the sound of a branch breaking near us, followed by the sound of steps, looking around I saw that we were surrounded by a group of men, there were ten in total, they formed a circle around us.
One of them, probably the leader, got closer than the others "Look what we found! Midgard's Two Most Wanted! You know, I expected you to try harder to hide since your rewards have increased!" The man said in an arrogant tone as he threw two wanted posters in our direction.
The posters landed at our feet, my reward was 500 gold coins and Alan's was 750 gold coins. It just gets worse and worse.
"Tell me, isn't there a way we can resolve this peacefully?" Alan asked.
"Yea. Just surrender!" The man replied as he smiled.
I looked at Alan, he just sighed, sat down on a rock, put his head down with his hands together on his forehead.
"Noir?" Alan asked.
"Yes, Lord Alan?" Noir replied.
"Finish them."
"As the Lord wills."
What followed was a massacre, two hands came out of Noir and grabbed two men by the legs, they were repeatedly smashed to the ground, their broken bodies were flung at great speeds against two other men, the impact was strong enough to hear their bones breaking, Noir then spun in an arc while shooting magic projectiles, three more men were pierced by the projectiles, their bodies now filled with holes, Noir created two hands again, these hands grabbed the men to the right and left of the leader of the group.
Noir smashed their heads together in a shower of red, now only the leader was left. He had fallen to the ground, and dragged himself to his back against a tree.
"P-please spare me, I promise to leave and never come back."
"Last time I let someone go, we ended up becoming wanted criminals. I will not repeat the same mistake twice. Noir!"
"Yes." A hand came out of Noir and flew towards the leader's head, his head was smashed against the tree, and the tree was split in two.
Alan then got up and started to pack things in the camp, another thing I noticed was the blood of the dead men being absorbed by Noir.
"Alan, are you okay?" I asked.
"Yes. I'm getting better at using magic, it barely hurts anymore." He replied.
"That's not what I meant."
"I… I don't know… Let's put it this way, I don't like killing, the problem is that it's getting easier. Remember the conversation we had a few weeks ago? About killing would become easier? Unfortunately, killing is getting easier. I had Noir kill all these men and it doesn't bother me that much anymore."
"I feel the same way, when a bunch of people come after us looking for our reward, I don't feel bothered when I finish them off."
"We need to be careful Rose, who knows when we'll do something we'll regret."
I was thinking about what he said, really, who knows when we'll do it.
TIMESKIP
Rose's POV
I was among the trees near a town, Alan said he was going to find a seamstress to make what he called 'protective equipment', Noir was here with me too.
"Noir?"
"Yes Miss Rose?" Noir replied.
"Can we talk?"
"Of course."
"Tell me Noir, do you still have those dreams?"
"Yes."
"Has anything about them changed?"
Noir was silent for some time.
"Many things, one constant is that always have a boy, a girl and I, from there things change, our ages, sometimes we are older, sometimes younger, the place where we fight to the death, sometimes it's a city, a forest or a stark white room, and finally the weapon we use to kill each other, sometimes it's knives, our own hands or…" Noir stopped.
"Or?" I asked.
"Blank grimoires. Sometimes we used the Grimoire to kill someone only for that person to be absorbed by the Grimoire. I am afraid Miss Rose, afraid that my purpose is not just to protect Lord Alan, but something more sinister."
"How do you feel about your purpose?"
"At first I thought it was just protecting Lord Alan, but as time went on I started to have my doubts, there must be something more, all I know is that I must serve Lord Alan until the end of something called Project Gestalt. But what is the Project Gestalt? I was never told what I should do after finding the Original Gestalt, only that I should protect and serve it."
"I have no idea what this Project Gestalt is, but I hope you find the truth about your purpose."
"Thank you Miss Rose."
"You are welcome Noir."
"Guys I'm back!" Alan yelled as he came out of the trees, there were bags with him.
"Well Rose, here's our protective gear." Alan said as he handed me a pair of leather gloves and a fabric mask with two straps on the side, the mask was big enough to cover my mouth and nose, Alan put on a pair of gloves and a mask.
"Try it." Alan said.
I put on gloves and mask.
"Rose the mask is not a chin guard." I adjusted the mask.
"Rose, it's not just to cover your mouth, you also have to cover your nose." Alan said while sighing.
"But then I won't be able to breathe!"
Suddenly Alan shivered and placed a hand on his forehead, "Please don't let Rose be that kind of person. Rose, we're going to have a conversation about wearing a mask, then we're going to talk about the importance of vaccines, and the reasons that prove that the Earth is not flat."
I didn't understand what he meant by that, but the conversation that followed was quite enlightening. I learned about viruses, vaccines, pandemics, and for some reason Alan was determined to hammer in my head that the Earth is round.
TIMESKIP
Rose's POV
"We're going to have to do this aren't we?" I asked.
"Yes." Alan replied.
There was no other option, we had to cross the city ahead of us, the Lords got tired of waiting for someone to capture us and started sending their own men after us. Trained men using the best equipment possible, Alan was afraid a mage was among these men. Going around cities is no longer an option. The plague is spreading to even the most isolated places, and the Lords' soldiers were starting to patrol the forests we used to hide. Enough wasting time, we need to cross the border as quickly as possible.
"Noir, get in my backpack." Alan said.
"Yes Lord Alan."
"How is Rubrum?" Alan asked me.
"She's in my bag." I said as i patted the bag beside me.
"Very well let's go." Alan replied, together we entered through the city gate.
Ouch! I slapped my wrist, a dead mosquito was squished in my glove, the bastard managed to bite me, and now it was itchy, I hope that's not a problem.
TIMESKIP
Rose's POV
How did it end up like this? I thought as I threw up in a bucket beside my bed, we managed to cross town without any problems, but a few days later I started to feel sick, coughs, fever, and then it only got worse, I started coughing up blood, having headaches, dizziness and now vomit.
Alan and I managed to find an abandoned cabin inside a forest, we were so close to crossing the border, there was only one more day to go. Damn it! I'm going to vomit again.
The bucket floated beside me with a red light around it, I threw up into the bucket "Thanks Rubrum!" I told the red book that was on a table beside my bed.
"You're welcome." I heard a voice coming from the book.
Suddenly Noir came through the bedroom door "Miss Rose you need to escape!"
"Noir! What happened."
"No time to explain Miss Rose, you..."
"CATCH HIM!"
"LET'S GO, HE'S ONLY ONE!"
"MY ARM, HE TOOK OFF MY ARM!"
"WAIT! STOP! AAAHHH!"
"We've been discovered Miss Rose, take Rubrum and get out of here, if you ever return to this place, Lord Alan buried all the money under the apple tree at the back of the house."
"Noir wait!" Noir left the room and went outside.
With difficult I got out of bed and picked up Rubrum, I looked out of the house through a window, I saw Alan surrounded by bodies, some were crushed, some were punctured, some without arms and legs, a hand came out of Noir, that hand grabbed a handful of stones and threw them towards a group of men who came out of the trees, the stones flew at great speed, shattering the men and trees in their path. But more men came out of the trees, and more, and more, and more…
Alan turned to me and said "Run!"
The moment those words left his mouth a mage left the group of men, he cast a spell towards Alan and Noir, Noir fell to the ground and were no longer moving, Alan fell to his knees on the ground, one of the men, a soldier of the Lords slammed the pommel of his sword into Alan's head, he fell unconscious.
I ran, around the house, and I ran, I ran for hours with Rubrum in my arms, I ran until I was out of the trees, I ran along the dirt roads until I couldn't take it anymore. From then on I became a horrible person, people started calling me the Pink Eyed Witch. The why of that? Well I had a magic book and I became an assassin.
I started to kill everyone who got in my way, men, women, children, the elderly, if they had something I wanted I would get it, if I needed money I would kill a merchant, if I needed food I would kill the owner of an inn. Hell! I even killed a nun for food, she was pretty with long blonde hair. After that Rubrum stopped talking to me. I don't blame her I deserved it. One day looking for food I broke into a house and killed a family in front of their daughter, before killing their daughter she asked me
"Why?"
That's what she asked me. Good question. Why? Then I realized. Wasn't there a why. At first I killed because they were after me, then I started to kill for fear of the person I stole snitching me to the guards or wanting revenge, in the end I started killing for no reason. Killing had become easy, I killed because it was the easiest solution, I killed a whole family to get some food.
Eventually I was found, I had done my best to kill everyone I decided to steal and hide all the evidence, but it's hard to do that when the number of people you've killed is in the triple digits, the plague had taken all my energy so I was surrounded by knights tied up and taken to Cathedral City, I don't know what happened to Rubrum but she must be better off without me.
Midgard, Year 995, Cathedral City
Rose's POV
Now here I am, tied to a wooden stake on a stone platform in the center of Cathedral City, beside me were five girls who were also being punished for their crimes. They were the daughters of noble families who decided to revolt against the Lords, what idiots, they were handed over by a traitor before the revolt even started.
Unlike them my torture was much lighter, I was being whipped by for every person I killed, I didn't feel anything anymore, a mixture of the plague in my body with the wounds on my back, I couldn't feel the rain falling on top from me, I looked at the girl beside me, needles were stuck in her eyes, her hands were burned by hot iron and her feet were rotting. I can't say why, but unlike me this girl had a great sense of justice.
"So that's my story, from the fateful day on that bridge and the events that brought me here." I said to the girl next to me, I couldn't help but laugh at how sad the situation was.
"Don't cry." The girl next to me said.
"I'm not crying, I'm laughing."
The girl was silent.
"Thanks." The girl next to me said.
"For?" I asked.
"For deciding to have a little chat with me. So thank you Rose."
"Don't call me Rose, that's not my real name, I was born without one, I have no name, I have nothing. No money, no home, no family, no… friends... I have nothing, nothing at all. All I have is this life about to end. I ended up as a Zero." I kept laughing.
"Don't cry…"
"I already told you I'm laughing."
"Hey!" No answer, the girl didn't answer. Looks like I'm the last one now.
It was decided that the last one to survive would be burned alive with the bodies of the other five. One of the group bit his tongue when he heard. Another was dead when the gang was dragged into the square. Another died before the rain, and a fourth during the massacre, leaving me and the girl who had just died.
Good luck burning me with this weather. Maybe they'd try to bury me alive with them instead. At least we can all take comfort in the fact that she wasn't the last to leave. It wouldn't have been right if the only girl who showed compassion to others until the end had to die the worst possible way.
I hate this world.
The rain got heavier, suddenly I heard the sound of screaming.
"RUN!"
"HE WILL KILL US ALL!"
"WHERE ARE THE GUARDS?"
There was a building at the end of the street, if I remember correctly this was the magic institute, the institute doors opened and a crowd of mages and researchers came out, before they could go very far stakes came out of the ground and pierced them. .
"FORWARD!"
"CALL ALL MEN!"
Several soldiers and knights passed around the platform and ran towards the institute, there were not only knights, there were archers, mages, cannons. What was happening? The institute front was surrounded by guards. Suddenly a red light flashed through the windows of the institute and a giant Dark Hand destroyed the front of the institute, pieces of wood and stone flew through the air and crushed people in front of the institute. The hand could easily crush a large house.
That hand was familiar…
Don't tell me that...
A smile formed on my lips, I couldn't help but laugh with all my might.
"HAHAHAH!" I laughed.
"HAHAHAH!" I kept laughing like there was no tomorrow. Because for me there wouldn't be, at least I'd die seeing a good show.
"HAHAHAH!" I kept laughing even as blood started to come out of my mouth.
Suddenly another hand came out of the institute, this one came out through the roof, and then another, and another, and another…
Five giant hands in total, all of which could easily bring down the great towers of Cathedral City.
"HAHAHAH!" The hands began to crush everyone in their path. Apparently someone wasn't going to die without a fight.
Something in the corner of my eye caught my vision, I saw a flower with pink petals, like my eyes, I want to touch it. I only received a flower once in my life, I never wished for one. But this flower, I love it.
"FIRE!" The cannons fired.
"SHOOT THE ARROWS!" The soldiers screamed.
A soldier's upper body landed beside me.
I couldn't close my eyes, so I kept looking at the flower. It was so beautiful... My life may have been wasted, but it wasn't such a terrible thing to see.
As its growing petals filled my field of vision, I greeted the flower with a quiet smile.
I heard the sound of footsteps, between the petals that covered my vision I saw an angel, his skin was gray like the tiles of the Cathedral City, red and yellow lines shone on his body, his arms and legs were a black color, long black hair came out of his head and flowed down his back, and in his face, two yellow eyes that stared at me, from his back came two wings made of darkness and covered in red lines.
In his hands the angel carried a large double-bladed ax, the ax was larger than the angel. Floating beside the angel were two books, a black book and a red book.
"HAHAHA!" I couldn't stop laughing, I'm definitely hallucinating, the situation was too good to be true, flowers and angels. As if I'm going to heaven after I die.
The angel raised his axe. From what I've seen. I'm right. You are here to take me to hell.
Isn't it Alan?
The angel lowered his ax, all I saw was a white light followed by the sound of an explosion.
END OF CHAPTER
Hi, thanks for reading this far. Before you leave, I have a request, if you don't mind. I would like you to leave your opinion of what you are thinking of the story so far. Is there anything I should improve? Did I end up leaving something out? I'm also open to tips and suggestions.
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Until the next chapter.