Chapter 15: Expedition (6)
"Alright, now where was this supposed location we were to explore?"
"Unless Merlin and the Fae were jerking our collective chains, there should be something just over the horizon there. Sure, they warned us to be careful...but that just suggests there's things over there we'll enjoy, now won't we?"
Manaka smirked at Nanashi's tired but eager words, lightly responding, "That we would. Provided you have the strength necessary to make the journey."
Her pointed look went unanswered or unnoticed, the boy shrugging without much concern as he replied, "I always feel better when first making use of reinforcement, like limbering up for a race...not that I've ever been in a race, but you get the idea."
Sighing in resigned acceptance of Nanashi's insistent desire to throw himself into scenarios that would more than likely end in his premature demise the pale-blonde resolved to keep a close eye on the foolish boy, knowing that trying to reign him in at this juncture would be a fruitless endeavor.
"Goodness, I just had to propose to him a deal that he has no desire to go back on. That courage and tenacity would be knightly and desirable in any other such scenario but this one."
Keeping those uncharacteristic and even somewhat morose thoughts to herself Manaka quietly followed after the homunculus as he strode towards a small cliff overlooking barren and sparse valleys of harsh and unforgiving rock, keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of what their informants and sponsors had told them to be wary of.
Evidently, this side of the reverse had recently seen a great amount of blood - innocent and perhaps less so - spilt.
She certainly believed such a claim, as they continued to carefully navigate the twisting and mildly depressing terrain that was a far cry from the more lush areas the Fae resided in. While she doubted Nanashi was able to pick up on it - stunted magus that he was - she could read the currents of energy that circulated through the Reverse easily enough, so inundated with ambient mana that it was. And the echoes of that energy, the last thoughts or vestigial intent of where it originated from, was filled with emotions of varying intensity.
Anger, bloodlust, fear, primal satisfaction...all echoing throughout the valleys they explored like the howls of a distant beast.
The blonde shivered, licking her lips at the 'scent' laid out before her.
For someone who had lived as relatively emotionless as she had for so long, this kind of sensory treat was sweeter than sugar.
"Anything, Manaka?"
She snapped out of her delightful little trance, glancing towards Nanashi as he drank deeply from a canteen, resting in the shade of an overhang as a small pang of regret echoed through her, at how much fun she had been having while he silently struggled along.
...She got over it, reminding herself that he'd been the one to insist on not taking a day to rest.
"Plenty. But as of yet no real direction or path for us to follow, only indistinct echoes."
"Hmm...what about that temple over there?"
"Eh?"
A small noise of surprise left the typically composed girl as she followed Nanashi's finger, blinking as there was indeed a small stone building located in the distance, mostly hidden by heat haze and shadow that would have kept it concealed unless one knew where to look.
She rounded on the homunculus, growling, "How did you find it while I did not?!"
He merely grinned despite the exhaustion on visible display, pointing to his eyes while cheekily stating, "There was some kind of convergence of purpose and meaning that way. Manaka, are you perhaps suggesting that I'm better at something than you~?"
The magus held the boy's gaze for a few seconds, blinking in disbelief...and she promptly pouted with great ferocity, cheeks puffed out in agitation as she grabbed the sides of Nanashi's face, twisting it every which way as she growled, "Is this the smug little mouth that is mouthing of to me~? Why yes it is, should I perhaps remove its ability to speak?"
Long used to her threats of violence that probably weren't going to be carried out the homunculus merely weathered the storm, giving Manaka an unimpressed look as she stepped back after a second, crossing her arms over her chest as she grumbled, "You're no fun."
"If your idea of fun is to stretch the hell out of my already paper-thin skin then I'm happy to be a stick in the mud, Manaka."
"Hmph!"
Lips quirking at his partner-in-crime's fairly cute antics they instead turned their gaze to the admittedly ominous construct, Nanashi asking, "So...how do we want to go about exploring that thing?"
"I would advise against doing so, children."
Nanashi stiffened, wildly glancing behind them as Manaka already had a ball of crystallized and condensed mana resting within her grasp, ready to be used at a moments notice as the strange, disembodied voice that was unmistakably male approached them...with the clop of hooves?
The duo shared a glance between them, remaining on their guard as the noise drew ever and ever closer-
-and both youths blinked in shock as their eyes were assailed with an image of unbelievable beauty.
White, sleek hair completely untouched by the dust and dirt that raced through the terrain they were occupying. Flawless mane of burnished silver that glowed like superheated lines of metal. Powerful muscles and wise eyes of midnight that stared at them with idle curiosity, gleaming horn of spiralling material that proudly pointed towards the sky.
"Holy shit, Unicorns are real."
"Did you ever assume otherwise?"
The calm and composed words were amused, the equine phantasmal beast striding past the duo before it stared down on the very same temple they had.
"So...that's where it resides…"
Ignoring the quiet murmur Manaka calmly inquired, "And just what brings you to this part of the Reverse, searching for the very same location we were?"
"Be at ease, child. My goal is not either of you. And I do not desire to visit harm upon either children nor virgins even on a bad day."
Nanashi grimaced, mumbling, "Not a virgin by choice, you know…" which predictably caused Manaka to flush, turning to the boy and complaining, "Is this really a time or place to bring that up?"
The Unicorn ignored their antics, instead cautioning them with, "The temple that you were inspecting is home to a Yali, one of particularly troublesome intellect and maliciousness."
The equine beast's disembodied words took on a noticeably bitter tinge.
"No doubt it still imagines this land as having once belonged to it, temples dedicated to its name and visage and ensuring it feels important for all of time to come. Foolish, prideful creature."
Nanashi raised an eyebrow at that remark, asking, "It sounds like there's history between the two of you. Bad history, at that."
"That there is. But what of the two of you? What brings a pair of human children to the Reverse, seeking a beast such as that?"
Briefly debating whether to tell the phantasmal beast about their task - and pointedly ignoring Manaka's death glare that clearly said he should stop speaking to strangers - the homunculus explained, "This body of mine is failing, fairly rapidly at that. My friend and I have been scouring these lands for any and all phantasmal beasts or other potential targets that we can find in order to make a better, long-lasting one. Not too long ago we ended up reaching an accord with the Fae, they pointed us in this direction."
The Unicorn's eyes flicked their way for a moment, eventually returning to observe the temple as it said, "Understandable. Those mystic eyes of yours do not seem like some manner of easily replaceable or mundane ability. Ah, but where are my manners? My name is Wynstar, children."
Blinking at the sudden introduction - as well as the fairly easygoing acceptance of their current quest - Nanashi asked, "Umm...shouldn't there be a bit more pushback than just going, 'yeah, that sounds legitimate'? Also I'm Nanashi."
"Indeed. It is quite a suspicious mindset."
There was a beat's pause before the magus girl rolled her eyes at Nanashi's expectant stare.
"Manaka Sajyou."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Nanashi and Manaka Sajyou. And as for why I am so accepting of your claims it is a simple enough matter. The Fae have recently begun spreading word of a pair of humans that traverse the land, seeking the aid and assistance of its denizens and are of trustworthy nature...I just merely did not endeavor to make the connection until now, my attention has been elsewhere."
The pair looked towards the temple.
"Is that the 'elsewhere' place?"
"It is."
A definite note of anger entered the Unicorn's voice, the fury sounding extra unnerving coming from such a pure and pristine creature.
"After all, that foul monster killed and ate my mate not more than a month ago."
"...Oh."
Left entirely unsure of how to respond to that Nanashi went for the hail mary attempt, asking, "Want our help in killing it? We can split the bounty afterwards and Manaka is pretty damn powerful."
The girl in question subconsciously puffed out her chest in pride at Nanashi's words-
-and scowled in annoyance as Wynstar shook his head, responding, "My revenge need not involve innocent children such as yourselves. And this foe is no simple beast, the temple it resides in is capable of disrupting and sealing the flow or process of magecraft, intrinsic or not."
Manaka frowned, pointedly stating, "I am not some simple and clueless novice that would be stymied by a mere bounded field of-"
"Can you state with absolute certainty that you would be unaffected and unhindered by such a field?"
"Well not without seeing it, no-"
"Then I would not risk your lives for the sake of my revenge. I have already lost my love, I would not lose my pride and dignity as well."
The blonde scowled, clearly not in the mood for any of the Unicorn's delicate sensibilities-
"We're going in one way or another."
-and Nanashi's blunt words caused the pair to look at him with arched eyebrows.
"You want us to stay out of harm's way, right? Well keeping me on the sidelines won't do that, this body is wasting away even as we chat here. You'd be doing a lot more to keep me alive by helping us take this damn thing down than you would probably going in to die on your own, that way we for certain get our phantasmal loot and you get your revenge."
The immaculate creature stared without visible emotion at the youth - not that he knew how to read a horse's tells in the first damn place - before idly commenting, "You are willing to do what must be done in order to achieve your goals?"
"Without a shadow of a fucking doubt."
"Hmm...very well then. If you insist upon acting with both admirable resolve and infuriating foolishness then let us plan to bring down this creature."
Blinking at the sudden turnaround Nanashi slowly asked, "That's...that's it?"
Wynstar turned to face both him and Manaka, voice tinged with resigned amusement as he asked, "You have made it abundantly clear that you have set your mind upon this course...short of expending my strength to force you away I cannot think of any method to settle our argument other than capitulation, lest I weaken myself to the point of being unable to carry out my ambition."
Manaka gave a haughty sniff, murmuring, "You sound quite certain you would be capable of 'forcing us away'."
To her consternation the Unicorn ignored her words, instead smoothly making his way down the twisting canyon walls while stating, "Follow, if you would. I believe I have the beginnings of a plan that shall bear fruit. And in all honesty the idea of that foul monster's remains being used to save a virgin soul's life is fairly pleasing..."
"I can't believe I'm doing this. Such such SUCH a dumb and stupid idea that I came up with here."
Repeating a steady and repetitive mantra within his mind as he carefully and slowly made his way through the twisting, ominous interior of the Yali's home temple Nanashi did his best not to shit his pants, instead gazing around at the admittedly impressive murals that depicted ornately carved designs, creatures that looked like manticores, griffons or other mythological beings - or maybe they were just stylized normal animals, what the fuck did he know with his hasty and slipshod education - hewn from solid rock and stone.
It helped distract from the shaking in his legs.
Their plan was simple in concept and hopefully simple in execution. Since Manaka had been unable to discern the exact specifics of the bounded field since it was inactive and based deep inside the building it was decided that the homunculus boy would scout and draw out the Yali, since Wynstar galloping about might very well put the beast in a mildly cautious state of mind.
...It irked him to no end that he was the obvious choice of bait, given his weak and sickly air. Once he got ahold of his new body it was Manaka - the slim and ethereal girl who resembled a doll more than a human - who would be the new choice of bait.
"Granted, anyone that does end up taking that bait will likely find themselves turned inside out pretty quick...jesus I wish she was the one playing sacrificial lamb right now…"
But that wasn't the way the cards had been dealt, Manaka was an integral part of their scheme and it was up to him to be the lure, not her.
"And my body is so fucked up that we can't even have celebration sex afterwards. I hate my life."
He was assuming that was how celebration sex worked, because in all honesty Manaka's little display back in the washroom had been the closest he'd gotten to intimacy with a girl in what was probably the first time in forever-
THUD.
The boy came to a dead stop, fragile heart palpitating and breath stuttery as what he came here to distract finally made its appearance...and gods did he feel terrified beyond measure.
THUD.
Swallowing thickly the homunculus slowly and nervously turned around, at a loss as to what he might find...and almost let slip a plaintive and animal whimper of fright as a titanic beast approached him with steady and sedate motions, as if it didn't have a care in the world.
Standing as tall as a small building and as long as a freakin' 18-wheeler the phantasmal beast had the appearance of three distinct creatures. An elephant's feet, lion's head and horse's body, the three disparate features somehow blending together into a cogent whole as the boy's knees began to shake uncontrollably, the beast filling the hallway whole as sharp, predatory eyes locked onto the comparatively miniscule youth.
"Oh shit."
A tectonic rumble left the creature-
-and with a hoarse, terrified shout Nanashi raised his arms, firing off a dual blast of fire and wind magecraft that caused his skin to crisp and ears to ache as the resulting pressure wave of heat and force filled the interior of the temple, a deafening roar louder than even the initial detonation shaking his bones, the Yali backing away from the onslaught with a snarl and shake of its maned head, smoke rising from crisped and smoldering patches of fur...and that was about it.
His best attempt at an attack and it had mildly inconvenienced the thing.
Without a backwards glance Nanashi ran off at full speed, lungs working overtime as he sprinted throughout the twisting and turning pathways, desperately trying to retrace his steps and buy as much time as possible as the Yali grunted in what sounded like guttural amusement, plodding along after him at a sedate and unhurried pace that wouldn't be bringing it closer to him anytime soon.
Not that the beast seemed to care, an unnatural light flashing along the length of its body-
-and the homunculus felt his strength leave him, pathetic legs giving out beneath an already paltry body weight as the rough stone sheared away a layer of flimsy skin as he hit the ground hard, hand scrabbling at his chest as it began to burn.
The only problem with this plan?
Once the Yali's bounded field effects took place there'd been an open question as to whether the disruption of his magecraft would be enough for the Reverse to overwhelm his defenses and combust his circuits. Thus far the boy was holding on but already he could feel his form overheating and sizzling, esoteric pain intermixing with the more tangible aspects as he valiantly tried to hold on to what concentration he could.
...Both Wynstar and Manaka had been hesitant about sending the weak and already dying Nanashi as bait precisely because of what was happening right that very second, but their hands had been tied in the matter. Manaka was the only one who had knowledge enough to switch off the bounded field once it activated and Wynstar the only one with enough strength to actually do anything once the field was disrupted.
The Yali grumbled as it drew closer, the rush of hot air ruffling the homunculus's hair as its stinking, fetid breath overwhelmed his senses-
-and a warm, comforting light the color of fresh snow began to shine, the bounded field collapsing as his abilities returned in a rush of power and purpose that alleviated the inferno raging across his nerves, the Yali blinking in confusion at the sudden collapse of its main hunting tactic.
Not that the confusion lasted for very long, the soft light that had inundated the temple manifesting in a meteor strike that struck the Yali clean on the side, a noise that put Nanashi's initial burst of magecraft to shame pounding against his ears as both Wynstar and the larger monster went careening across the floor, an enraged whinny emanating from the charging and incandescent Unicorn as the Yali roared in pain and surprise at the sneak attack.
"I can't believe that worked."
Painfully picking himself off the floor Nanashi turned to watch the raging battle, jaw clenching as he realized how pathetic his attempts at resistance earlier had been, compared to the conflict occurring barely two dozen meters away from him.
Wynstar's initial assault had carved a colossal gouge out of the Yali's flank, blood, muscle and bone on gory display but the other phantasmal beast had nothing if not incredible amounts of vitality, fighting back despite the grievous injury with swipes of its heavy feet and snaps of powerful jaws, the Unicorn dancing around with deft movements as it wielded its horn like some kind of bladed weapon, condensed mana causing the spiral appendage to slice through flesh like a hot knife through butter.
"Shit, Manaka and I might not even be needed for this next bit-"
A feint from the Yali left Wynstar dancing directly in front of its slavering maw...and a deft flex of neck muscles and adamantine jaws had the Yali snatching the smaller Phantasmal Beast up in its teeth, puncturing smooth hide and drenching white fur with silver and crimson blood as the creak of bones filled the temple.
Nanashi's jaw dropped.
"H-how?! He was doing fine so why-"
"Perfect...I have you right where I want you!"
The homunculus's eyes widened as he realized that Wynstar hadn't been caught...he'd sacrificed what looked like mortal injuries for a clean shot at the beast's head, his horn glowing like a small sun as the Unicorn twisted his neck so that it directly faced the Yali-
-and with a sound that made the youth wonder if his eardrums were going to survive the day a beam of blinding light removed about half of the Yali's skull and body in a single go, tearing a hole through the temple's roof and allowing the warmth of the bright blue sky to filter through.
The pair of Phantasmal Beasts remained upright for a split-second...and with a wet SPLAT the Yali collapsed in a steadily growing pile of blood and guts, Wynstar shakily rising to his feet as Nanashi stumbled forward, shouting, "Holy shit that looks bad, are you-"
"I'm fine...or as fine as can be, present condition being what it is. These wounds were a small price to pay for the chance to remove that damn creature's head."
The homunculus awkwardly stood and watched as Wynstar unevenly walked towards a pile of discarded bones and other detritus in a corner of the temple...a bone pile that the youth realized held what looked like another equine body, albeit scattered unevenly as he slowly asked, "Is...that your mate?"
"It was."
Weakly collapsing next to the corpse Nanashi approached with unsure footsteps, Manaka skidding to a stop next to him a bare second later as she rode a fast moving current of wind, relaxing slightly as she saw that the battle was over and what few injuries the male had were superficial.
"Children, a few last words."
The pair approached, stopping just short of the seeping pool of blood as the Unicorn distantly stated, "My blood, make use of it. It has powerful healing properties and I'm sure you will find a worthwhile purpose in collecting it. The Yali will no doubt have something you can appropriate."
Both teens hesitated, Nanashi's questioning gaze causing Manaka to quietly sigh as she bluntly stated, "You need not speak of death so casually. It will be difficult but I'm rather confidant in my abilities to preserve your life."
A chuckle of amusement escaped the equine beast, replying a moment later with, "And the offer is appreciated but unnecessary. I have no desire to continue with life, not without her. My time is now and I am content with leaving my body to your ambitions."
The Unicorn's eyes drifted closed, voice weary as he stated, "Cherish each other, young ones. Life without the one you long for most...is no life at all…"
Death claimed Wynstar quietly and without much fanfare, Manaka and Nanashi staring at the body without comment for almost an entire minute, lost in their own respective thoughts.
Without a word Manaka took one of her Mystic Codes from the pouch at her side, a small box that could hold a great amount of objects in stasis as the Unicorn's body - alongside the Yali's - was sucked into it without issue, the girl returning to her friend's side as he was just as quiet as she was.
"Strange. Why would one wish to die after another has already passed? Such an act won't bring them back."
Nanashi shrugged, Manaka furrowing her brow as she quietly murmured, "Is that an aspect of love?"
No answer was forthcoming, the girl going about returning them to their more mundane plane of existence as both youths felt a certain melancholy in their souls, despite the nominal success of their hunt.