Chris: Well, finally finished this chapter (I started it like…2 weeks ago). Aaaanyway, hope you enjoy and stuff! Here comes Melissa's first "Chapter", you could say. Incidentally, this story happens when Ein and Co. are in Tetyth. Thanks to all who reviewed and I'm glad you enjoy the story so far.
Note: By the way, thanks to Freedom Kira for pointing out a glaring plothole that I must attend to. After I finish some stuff. Since it's not really a plothole, but a mistake…that I could fix. And you would see nice page break lines, but then Quick Edit isn't working. Silly Quick Edit.
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Chapter 4: A Look into the Dark
Valhalla. A demonic city located near the peaceful haven of Elendia. If there was anything you could say about it, it would be that you would never lack for a fight in the city. With over half of the land occupied by a gigantic arena, it would be easy to say that only the most ferocious fighters ever make a living inside the vicious metropolis.
With rumors that a village of sprites near the outskirts of the city have been under attack by a mysterious, winged girl, Melissa, Sif, Jordan, and Silvei journey towards the small hamlet, each with their own questions. First, why would Sprites even live in such a hazardous area? And secondly, who was this girl? Was she a Grim Angel like Sif? Or perhaps something more sinister?
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The four travelers found themselves on top of a grassy hill, the blue sky above them and the village sitting directly in front of them. Jordan, amazingly enough, was the first one to utter his thoughts about what he saw.
"…I don't believe I have ever seen something so…wrong in my whole life. And trust me, as a demon, I've seen a lot of things that shouldn't have happened." Jordan stared at the small hamlet in front of his, shaking his head in disbelief. The rogue shuddered and turned away, unable to look anymore. "A village of demons…that lives peacefully? Is that even possible? Why aren't they doing anything constructive, like pillaging some local market or something?"
"Don't ask me." Silvei replied, staring at the village in front of them. The sniper folded her arms and smiled slightly. "It's no surprise people thought that these were Sprites. I would think they were Sprites myself if it weren't for the telltale aura that immediately identifies them. So a small handful of demons have actually become peaceful and have formed their own village."
"It's…pretty." Sif whispered, mostly to herself. The sight in front of her raised her hopes that not all demons were kill-crazy murderers whose only thoughts rested on money and blood. She could only hope that her friends would learn from this example. Although, from looking at Jordan's depressed expression, it wouldn't happen any time soon. '…Please, gods, let both demons and sprites live in peace.'
"It doesn't matter how it looks or who lives there. Come on, we've heard that Sprites have been killed around here and I intend to find out why." Melissa looked back at her comrades. With a confident smile, she pointed towards the village. "Standing around isn't going to help us. And if you keep moaning, Jordan, you're going to fly so far they'll hear you in Asgard."
"Eep!" Jordan let out a short squeak and immediately put a hand over his mouth, looking scared.
Melissa, confident that everything would be nice and quiet, turned to walk towards the village. She barely had time to react when suddenly a young vampire appeared in front of her and smiled girlishly at her. The witch was suddenly taken off-guard when the mysterious girl leaned forward and kissed her smack dab on the lips. Melissa managed to get over her shock in a couple of seconds and she staggered backwards, falling onto the grass. She looked frantically at the others, hoping they could offer some reasonable explanation as to what had happened. She was doomed to be disappointed.
Jordan was currently on his knees, a hand over his nose and mouth. Small droplets of drool leaked out from the gaps between his fingers and he looked like he had just seen the greatest wonder in the world. Silvei wasn't in much better condition. She just stared at the vampire, gaping in surprise. Her bow had slipped from her hands and was now nestled in the grass, all but forgotten. Only Sif appeared to be in a relatively normal condition, her arms folded across her chest. The Grim Angel was shooting a strange look at the vampire, something that combined disapproval, shock, and just a slight bit of jealousy into one.
"You're cute." The vampire smiled, showing off two white fangs in a happy smile.
'This…This girl just kissed me and that's all she can say?' Melissa screamed mentally. She opened her mouth to say something, only to be cut off as the vampire kissed her again. 'What is going on here? Somebody tell me!'
"You're really cute." The young girl jumped back and smiled again, bending over to look at the astonished expression on Melissa's face. She put a finger to her lips, looking slightly confused. "You didn't like my kiss? That's mean."
Melissa finally recovered her voice and she scrambled backwards from the vampire. "Y-You kissed me! I'm a girl! You…You don't do those sorts of things!"
"Why not?" The vampire cocked her head to the side innocently. "My mom always told me that it was okay."
"Urgh…" Melissa groaned under her breath, unable to believe what she was hearing. She decided to take out her stress on the others. "What the hell were you guys doing? Couldn't you have stopped her or anything?"
"Huh? Oh, sorry." Silvei snapped out of her stunned state. "Well, it's just that…I never…oh you know."
"…It's not fair…She kisses you, but not me. There isn't anything wrong with two girls kissing, in fact that's really hot, but…I wish I got some of that action." Jordan muttered, wiping his mouth free of saliva. He looked up, only to see the vampire girl standing in front of him. "Uh…"
"You want a kiss too?" She asked cheerfully. "Okay."
And with that, she promptly kissed Jordan on the mouth. The rogue experienced ecstasy for around five seconds before Melissa's staff connected with the side of his head and launched him around fifty feet away. With one of the idiots taken care of, Melissa turned her attention to the last one.
"What the hell are you doing? And who are you?" Melissa shouted, pointing her staff at the young vampire.
"Huh? Me? I'm Melanie." She grinned and flapped her wings slowly to hover in the air. "I was just greeting our guests. I'm the mayor's daughter and it's my duty to say hello to anyone coming here."
"What a kiss?" Melissa said skeptically.
"Uh…" Melanie blushed slightly and she rubbed the back of her head. "Well, not really. I'm actually not supposed to be here because some of the villagers have been attacked recently. But you all looked so cute so I had to come see you. And I was bored at home anyway."
Melissa just groaned and shook her head. 'What else is going to go wrong?'
"Can we keep her, Melissa?" Jordan asked, down on his knees. "After we're done with this, let's bring her back to the hideout! She'd enjoy the change in scenery!"
"Leave her alone. You just want her around so you can get her to kiss you again. Come on, we're going down to check things out." Silvei grabbed the rogue by the ear and began dragging him down the hill, ignoring his pitiful cries of pain and agony. As the two of them slowly disappeared, Melissa heard Jordan give a shout of pain as Silvei's foot landed in his stomach.
"Excuse me, but you said something about the villagers being attacked?" Sif stepped forward, deciding to let her presence be known. The Grim Angel stared solemnly at the vampire, staring disapprovingly at her revealing blouse and short skirt. Melanie turned her attention to Sif and nodded.
"Yeah, a couple of days ago, a couple of people were killed sometime during the day. The crazy part is that nobody knows who did it." Melanie shuddered. "It's really scary. I can use a weapon, but truthfully I'm not that good. I just hope I don't meet the murderer."
"I see…" Sif sighed and looked down at the grass, wondering who the killer could be. She had no idea who it could be. It might have been one of those insane demons from Valhalla or it could have been something else altogether. Sif was never fond of having to guess, so she didn't bother guessing right now. The only thing to do was find out first-hand. "Come on, Melissa. Let's go look around."
"Okay, but let's find the others first." Melissa said, already beginning to walk towards the village. Sif stayed behind for a couple of moments, looking at Melanie suspiciously.
"Is there something wrong?" Melanie asked.
"No…Nothing wrong." Sif shook her head and followed after Melissa, running to catch up with her friend. '…Something feels wrong here. I can't pinpoint it…But I'll protect my friends.'
Melanie watched them leave, her innocent smile turning slipping from her face. The sound of flapping wings erupted from behind her and the vampire turned around, feeling her heart skip a beat. "M-Malice. I-I told them what you wanted me to say."
"Good. You get to keep your soul a little bit longer." Malice grinned wickedly, running her fingers across the sharp, cool-blue edge of her Diviner, Skadi. She let out a low chuckle, envisioning herself presenting the souls to her master. She sent a sharp glare in Melanie's way. "Get out now before I rethink my decision to let you live."
"Y-Yes!" Melanie quickly flew away, her twin braids flying behind her as she left the area as fast as she could. Malice watched her leave and shrugged.
"I'll kill her after I'm done with this bunch of fools. She's lived long enough and my master needs more souls. I'm sure she'd be happy to help." Malice laughed to herself before calling her wings. With a flurry of black feathers, she flew towards the village, intent on claiming four more souls for her master.
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"Arg, stop pulling my ear! We're already in the village!" Jordan squeaked out in pain, trying to dislodge himself from Silvei's grip. The sniper was relentless though and only tightened her grip on Jordan's reddening ear. She looked up to see Melissa and Sif running towards them and she waved at them.
"I see you two are still fine." Melissa said. The witch looked around the village, slightly impressed that demons were actually able to build a working community without killing each other first. She was also slightly envious, but that feeling was quickly squashed. She turned and faced Sif. "Hey, you've been acting weird. Is something wrong?"
"Oh, it's nothing." Sif mumbled, looking distracted. As it was, her blatant lie fooled no one and Melissa walked up to her, looking concerned. The witch tapped her on the head with her staff, snorting when Sif jumped back, surprised. "What was that for?"
"Stupid. I thought angels shouldn't lie." Melissa shook her head. "Now spill it. Something's bothering you."
"Well, okay. I'm…sensing someone that seems like a Grim Angel. Except that it isn't exactly the right feel. I know how a Grim Angel should feel like. But this one is slightly twisted, distorted." Sif explained. "I know that somebody from Asgard is here, though. That much I can identify. As for anything else…"
"You can sense other people from Asgard?" Melissa asked, her interest piqued. "So how does this work? Like, is it a buzz in your mind or what?"
"I can't explain it that well. I just feel their presence. I just know it. There isn't much else, really." Sif said apologetically. "Sorry for disappointing you."
"It's not a problem." Melissa hurriedly said. "So…you just feel it. Interesting. I've read some books on the aspect of sensing other beings, but I've never seen anyone who could actually do it. You're amazing, Sif."
Sif blushed from pleasure and turned away, feeling an incredible wave of shyness wash over her. "T-Thanks."
"Hmm…Let's see if we can find any hints as to whose been killing all these demons. Well, technically demons. Sheesh, these people are nothing like demons at all." Melissa grumbled as she walked down the well-kept paved road, barely restraining her disgust from rising to her face. "Still, they are our brethren, so I guess we should help them. I'm surprised that they aren't more worried about the problem, though."
"Probably too scared to do anything about it." Jordan said from his position on the ground. Silvei was still dragging him by his ear, but he had already lost all feeling in that side of his head a couple of minutes ago, so he didn't care that much anymore. "Anyway, what're we going to do now?"
"Just find the kill-" Melissa began, but Sif stopped her. Putting a finger to her lips to warn everyone to be silent, Sif slowly withdrew her Diviner, the gray-white metal pulsing with energy. Suddenly, with a quick push, Sif shoved Melissa away just as a giant three-bladed axe crashed into the ground.
"Tch, you got lucky." Their attacker, a girl with long, blond hair, spat at the ground and brought her weapon back into position, pointing the axe at Melissa. "Give up your souls!"
Now that something exciting had happened, Jordan finally went into action, the careless and goofy face he had been wearing earlier turning into an iron-hard mask of concentration and eagerness. He swiftly flipped his axe out of his belt and pointed it at their attack, smirking. "Forget it! I like my soul right where it is!"
"I wasn't talking to you, you pathetic demon. You're not even worth my time." The girl spat, not bothering to even look at the rogue. Jordan growled angrily and charged at her, bringing his axe in a wide, diagonal swing that would have cleaved right through the girl if her weapon hadn't suddenly flashed in front of him, shattering his axe into thousands of pieces and flinging him against one of the buildings.
Silvei was immediately at the rogue's side, inspecting the deep wound that ran across his chest and one of his arms. Muttering small curses under her breath, she quickly pulled out a thick roll of bandages and some salve, wishing that she wasn't that one that had to tend to all the injuries. She would've rather shot that girl full of arrows as revenge. However, her revenge was already being taken care of.
Melissa's eyes flashed as she saw Jordan being knocked away. Raising her staff, the ruby glowed a bright red before a flurry of fireballs erupted from the jewel and flew towards the mysterious girl, threatening to incinerate her in the blaze. However, the girl just swung her weapon once and all the fireballs dissolved into thin air. She immediately went to attack Melissa, moving almost as fast as the wind as she appeared in front of the witch, swinging her axe in a wide arc. Melissa staggered backwards, managing to deflect most of the blow with her staff.
'It's a good thing I had this magically reinforced.' Melissa thought to herself as she saw the girl's weapon rebound off of her staff. Still, it was of no reassurance, since there was no way that she would be able to keep up with the swift attacker. Even now she was already starting to fall behind, just barely managing to block the last blow.
"You're mine!" The blond-haired girl said with a fierce look of glee as she skillfully disarmed Melissa with a quick turn of her axe. The witch barely had time to gasp before the axe pierced her side, only luck saving her from being killed in one blow. She stood over Melissa, raising her three-pronged axe with glee. "It's time for you all to die! Blue Sophia!"
"Fimbulvetr!"
"WHAT?" The girl hissed, spinning around to see Sif holding her Diviner out in front of her. She spat angrily and rushed at the Grim Angel, swinging her weapon in a furious circle. "Perish!"
Sif didn't reply, simply glaring at her while she brought her Diviner around to counter her attack. The two weapons clashed and suddenly an otherworldy wail erupted from between them. A bright flash erupted from the collision and when the brightness dissipated, both Sif and their mysterious attack were lying on the ground, their weapons lodged firmly into the cobblestones.
"Another…Diviner?" The girl whispered, struggling up to her feet. She staggered backwards slightly, her eyes narrowed with pain and hatred. "Why do you keep getting in my way? I'll take care of you before you cause any more trouble!"
In a quick move, she wrenched her axe from the rocks. She stalked towards the fallen Sif, an expression of manic glee on her face. Sif watched her approach, her legs feeling too weak to be able to stand. But just because her legs were weak wouldn't mean that she couldn't escape. She just had to trick this girl…this Grim Angel, she realized. As the axe came slashing towards her body, Sif quickly called her wings and she flew just out of range, pulling Draupnir from the ground. The light-blue haired girl hovered above her attacker, trying to place a name with that face. Before she could, black-feathered angel wings erupted from the girl's back and they began a mid-air fight, dancing across the sky.
"Ugh…Sif." Melissa groaned, trying to get up so she would be able to assist her friend. She only managed to managed to get to her knees, though, and she could feel her strength dwindling. Her blood slowly dripped out from the wound at her side, the fabric already soaked through with red. Gritting her teeth, she tried to stand, only to let out a harsh cry as pain flooded her nerves.
"Sheesh, you two always get into trouble." Silvei muttered, rushing to her side and quickly wrapping bandages around the area where the girl's axe had pierced Melissa's body. "I'm surprised you're still alive. Not like that's bad though."
"How's…Jordan?" Melissa gasped out, wincing as the archer tightened the bandages.
"You care about that idiot? He's fine. I knocked him out so he could get some sleep. Stupid moron wanted to go back to the fight. When I asked him what he would use, he just motioned with his fists." Silvei shook her head angrily.
"Can't you help Sif?" Melissa asked. Silvei gave a start and stared at the witch, disbelief written on her face. "Come on, Silvei. You've got to trust her. She isn't going to try to kill you, trust me."
"Fine, but it's not that. If you haven't seen, those two angels move so fast, I have around the same chance of hurting Sif than helping her. If I could fly, then it would be less of a problem, but from the ground, I can do nothing." Silvei explained, squinting at the air battle.
"Can I help?" Melanie's cheerful voice filtered through the chaos above them and in an instant, the young vampire was at Silvei's side, showing off a big, fanged smile. "I've talked to the other villagers and they're all tired of living in fear. We're going to be chasing Malice out of our village once and for all."
"Now there's the demon spirit." Melissa smiled tiredly. "Okay, but you'll have to carry Silvei. I'm too weak to do anything at the moment."
"Is that okay with you?" Melanie turned to the archer, still smiling. She jumped up and down, obviously full of energy and definitely willing to give her best. Silvei just sighed and nodded, untying her bow from her back. She shot a short glare at the young girl.
"You better not drop me." Silvei grimaced. "If you do, I swear I'll come back as a ghost and haunt you till the end of your days."
"Don't worry." Melanie replied, still smiling. She motioned to her wings and leaned down slightly. "Come on, let me carry you."
Silvei shuddered once before gingerly wrapping her arms around Melanie's stomach, feeling the vampire's leathery wings brushing against her face and chest. She shuddered again and closed her eyes, muttering to quick prayer. Melanie brought her arms back to grip Silvei by the top of her legs and turned her head.
"Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah. Just go. Please." Silvei replied rapidly, already wishing that she had never suggested shooting arrows from the sky. She let out a terrified squeak as Melanie started lifting off of the ground, her bow clutched tightly in her shaking hands. 'Oh man, I never thought I'd be scared of flying…Just calm down…calm down.'
The two of them slowly rose up to Sif's level, Silvei somehow managing to grab an arrow. She notched it against her bow, sighting along the wooden shaft to where Malice's wings would be. Waiting for a couple of seconds to make sure she got the shot absolutely perfect, Silvei released the arrow. It flew through the air and struck Malice right in the back, in the middle of where her wings were sprouting. The Grim Angel let out a shout, more from surprise than pain, and quickly spun around from reflex.
"You!" She yelled angrily, pointing at Melanie. "You'll pay for betraying me!"
"I never served you. Besides, these guys are just so much cuter than you are." Melanie replied with a smile and a wink. "Look behind you."
"What?" Malice whirled around to see Sif hovering there, a victorious smile on her face. Before she could react, Draupnir ripped through her, creating a nasty wound right across the stomach. Malice screamed and flew backwards, flying away from Sif.
"I'll be back! You might have defeated me now, but it won't last!" Malice shouted as she quickly departed. Sif breathed a sigh and floated to the ground, her wings gradually shrinking until she set foot onto the cobblestone road. She rushed to Melissa's side, looking worriedly at the bandages covering her wound.
"Sif…Help me stand." Melissa said, holding out a hand towards her. Sif nodded and propped the injured witch's arm over her shoulder, supporting her. Melissa staggered towards Melanie, who was wearing a happy smile as she waved towards a small mob of demons that were walking towards them. "Thanks for helping us."
"It was my pleasure! It was all I could do, really, since…" Melanie looked away, flushing slightly in shame. "Well, I was the one who lured you here."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Melissa's eyes narrowed. "Do you mean everything that happened here was because of you?"
"Of course not! You're the people who came over here to investigate the murders. I pushed you in the right direction, that's all." Melanie nodded vigorously.
"For some reason, I don't think that's tr-" Before Melissa could finish her sentence, Melanie had planted another kiss on her lips.
"Have I mentioned that you're really cute?" The young vampire smiled impishly.
"Stop doing that!" Melissa shouted. Melanie only shook her head adamantly, that cheerful smile still present on her face. For some reason, Melissa found the sight so amusing that she couldn't help but laugh. Melanie's voice quickly joined hers and soon Sif was laughing too. It felt good to laugh.
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Chris: Ahem, anyway, hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I'm planning to make Melanie a regular member of Melissa's gang, so I hope you guys like her. Actually, I don't know if you do, but then I like her so it's all good. She's mainly there to be a counter-balance to Serene and also for some more comedic humor. She'll be fleshed out a lot more, though, so don't worry 'bout that.
Anyway, to clear up a few things if you have questions 'bout them. First of all, Malice is here...because she's harvesting souls and she's pretty much taken all the Arcs. Those of you who have completed the game already know what's gonna happen.
Second of all, the reason Sif and Malice don't recognize each other is similar to the reason Malice doesn't recognize Ein in the…castle place. And besides, Malice isn't a real Grim Angel, so she probably wouldn't be attending to the gods anyway.
Third of all, I used Blue Sophia instead of Trie because at this moment in time, Ein's storyline is closer to the castle area, where Malice used Blue Sophia to trigger the explosion. Which leads to the next thing.
And finally, I put the collision of the two Diviners explosion there because it happened with Ein's weapon in that same castle place. I could be mistaken, however, since Einherjar was locked in that area, which might have caused the flash.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! Drop a review please and suggestions/comments are always appreciated!