~March 26th x800~

A storm is brewing in the distance, and the wind blows and howls so hard, they have to shout to hear each other. In the dark, the woods take on a new shape; the trees seem to stretch to wild heights; the ground is rough and unsure. Richard does his best to lead them down the path he took with Lillian, and at first he does well; his memory is almost eidetic with how sure he is of the way they went, but it isn't long before he's stalled by a fork in the road. They're at least deep enough in the woods now that the density of the trees blocks most of the wind, and they don't have to yell.

"Left or right?" Silver asks.

"I... I can't remember." Richard closes his eyes and rubs his temples. "I don't remember coming across a diverging path like this. It was all straight." He turns and stares at the trees behind them. "Maybe we missed a turn?"

"Are you trying to tell us we're lost?" Blue asks.

"No," Richard crouches down on the floor and shakes his head. "No, we can't be. We can't be."

Silver sighs.

"Dammit." She says. "What do we do now?"

Razi tilts his head and cocks his ears.

"I hear something," he says. "It sounds like… music."

"Music?" Silver asks.

"Yeah, like violins," Razi says.

"You think you could follow it?" Blue asks.

"Yeah. It's really easy to pick out now that I've noticed it."

"Do you think it's gonna lead us to the witch?" Silver helps Richard get back to his feet.

"There's only one way to find out."

Silver nods and turns to Richard. She notices the man seems feverish and shaky, and his eyes are cloudy.

"You don't look so good. Maybe one of us should take you back to the-"

"No," Richard cuts her off. "No, I'm fine. I can do this. I can't just go back. Lillian's waiting for me."

Silver bites her lip, half a mind to force Richard back. In the state he's in, he might only end up slowing them down.

But in the end, it's his fiancee that's missing.

"All right." Silver grabs his arm. "But you stay close to me."

She shoots a look at the Crystal Wolf, and the beast nods in understanding. It'll do what it can to keep Richard safe so Silver can focus on keeping him moving. Blue floats slightly behind.

"I'll guard our backs in case that lynx tries to ambush us." He says. "Lead the way, Razi."

Razi closes his eyes and lets the music guide him. It's a pretty melody. The violins are playing something like a lullaby. It's almost familiar, yet melancholy. Razi is certain he can hear someone humming along, but any time he tries to focus on the voice, the music fades. As they go further into the woods, the music grows louder, and soon everyone can hear it. Then, springing up like a mirage, is a castle shimmering in and out of existence. It's bordered by a spiked. wrought-iron gate and made of polished marble. A hundred windows reflect a shining light that's almost like a beacon in the dark.

Razi backs away instinctively, not liking the smell of the area. The Crystal Wolf crouches down and growls.

"Something doesn't feel right," Razi says. "We shouldn't go any further."

But Richard isn't listening, instead rushing past everyone and screaming, "LILLIAN! I'M HERE! I'VE COME BACK! WHERE ARE YOU?"

Richard only gets within a hundred feet of the castle when he freezes in place. The violins screech like a warning, and Razi doubles over and covers his ears. As the music swells louder and louder, Silver and Blue drag Razi behind a tree, but Richard is too far ahead to reach in time.

Suddenly, the music stops, and the Phoenix Refuge members watch as the gray owl swoops in from behind the castle gate. It lands on the ground, and in an instant, it transforms into the lynx. The wild cat slinks up to Richard, brushing its body against his legs for a moment before shifting into a woman with pale white hair, bright yellow eyes and burn marks all over her skin. She pats Richard's face.

"My, my. So you came back after all. I expected you couldn't stay away." She kisses him on the cheek. "You know, you resemble my Master. Your eyes are the same. Come along," she snaps her fingers and Richard stands at attention. "I believe I can find a place for you."

Like a puppet, Richard follows the woman towards the castle. Once they pass the wrought-iron gate, they vanish from sight, but the castle is still visible. The violins play once more.

"I can't believe it." Razi says. "That cat was the witch."

"I guess it makes sense," Blue says. "She could transform girls into birds and she could transform herself as well."

"It doesn't really matter anymore." Silver picks up a rock and throws it at the gate. With a clink, it bounces back. "What's the plan? What do we do?"

The three look at the gate. Blue takes careful steps towards it, and the others follow. Silver tosses another rock at the spot Richard froze, but nothing happens. She directs the Crystal Wolf forward, but still nothing happens. As they move closer to the castle, however, Razi and Blue take a step back. They can both sense something like a barrier around the gate, but Silver doesn't.

So she keeps marching forward, along with the Crystal Wolf. When she walks through the gate, a feeling like a spiderweb coats her whole body for a moment, and then she finds herself in a large courtyard filled with birds. They screech at her, flapping their wings against their cages. Silver looks back, but she can't see Razi and Blue anymore. She rests her hand on the back of the Crystal Wolf's head; the beast is tense and its fur stands on end. For now, she ignores the birds and keeps going; she won't be any good to them if she gets distracted.

Past the gate, the castle is no longer made of marble, but crumbling black stone. Ivy has overtaken almost every inch, and she can only see faint light through the main door.

It's like she created an illusion to attract people, Silver thinks as she leads the Crystal Wolf down the row of caged birds. The question now is why?

At the end of the row of cages, separated from the others, is a single black crow. It's the only bird not making a fuss, and upon Silver inspecting it, she sees it is badly injured; its breast feathers are plucked, its wings are broken, and its beak and feet are caked in dry blood. The crow spots Silver, and gives a pitiful little caw. She's certain this the same crow she saw a couple days before. She pokes her finger through the cage and strokes the crow's head.

"You tried to warn us, didn't you?" Silver whispers. The crow doesn't respond. "It's alright. When this is all over, we'll get you turned back and all healed up. Then this will all be a bad dream. You've just got to hang on a little longer."

The crow blinks slowly and almost nods. Silver takes her finger out of the cage and walks into the castle.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the gate, Blue and Razi watch Silver disappear.

"It seems she has a barrier that only lets women pass through willingly." Blue says.

"How are we gonna get in there to help?" Razi asks.

"We're just gonna have to go around. Maybe there's a weakness in the magic." Blue tries to see if there's a visible end to the gate, but it appears to go on for miles. He looks back at the castle. It can't be more than a thousand feet across. "There's no way the gate is actually that long. Come on."

They walk as close to the gate as they can without setting off the barrier. Blue keeps one hand up, trying to sense a difference in the magic, while Razi strains his ears to hear anything over the music.

Suddenly, Razi stops.

"I can hear birds." He says.

Blue circles back to where Razi points and closes his eyes. He takes a step closer to the gate, and then another.

"There's a weakness in the barrier," Blue says. "We should be able to enter through here."

He slips one foot past the bars of the gate to test his theory.

Razor-sharp teeth dig into his flesh, and Blue screams as they drag him through.

"BLUE!" Razi jumps in after him.

Past the barrier, the screams of the birds are so loud, Razi has to cover his ears for a second. The music is almost deafening as well, and instantly gives him a headache. Razi grits his teeth and forces himself to think past the pain. He shifts all his focus on Blue, who is dangling fifty feet from the ground by the ankle. A yellow scaled beast swings Blue like a rag doll with its brown, sharp teeth. It stands on all fours, with the pointed ears and muzzle of a wolf, but its body is built like a tiger. Its bony tail ends in a scorpion stinger, and Razi quickly ducks and rolls to avoid being pierced by it.

"Midnight Palm!" Razi's right arm and hand turn black and white as he punches the beast in the closest leg. The creature lets out a scream halfway between a howl and a roar.

Blue dislodges himself from the monster's teeth while its mouth is open. Using his telekinesis, he floats as far away from the beast's jaws as possible. His pant leg his drenched in his own blood. He can't feel his foot.

"Orbs!" He shouts. Several spheres appear surrounding the beast. The creature nudges into a couple, and screams as they explode on impact. The beast swings its paw at more of the orbs, trying to knock them away, but only causing them to explode.

"That should keep it busy for a while." Blue winces as he touches down on the ground. He pulls up his pant leg, revealing his mauled ankle. It's hard to see how bad it really is past the blood, but he definitely needs to see a healer soon. "Creation: Bandages."

"Are you okay?" Razi asks, keeping his eyes on the beasts. While the orbs are causing it pain, they don't seem to pierce through its scales to cause damage.

Blue wraps the bandages around his ankle. He tries to flex, and a sharp pain shoots up his leg.

"I'm good for now. I'll just need to stay floating." The hovers barely a foot off the ground, but it's enough to take the pressure off. "The sooner we can get Silver and leave, the better."

"Alright." Razi is still watching the beast. It's destroyed most of the orbs now, and doesn't seem worse for wear. Even if they go on, it'll probably chase them down as soon as it destroys them all. "Hey, can you create one enormous orb?"

"Yeah. It'd probably just make it easier for that thing to avoid it, though. Why?"

"I've got an idea."

The inside of the castle is a maze of rubble and cracked stone. Vines strangle the hallways, spider webbing up the walls like veins. They're so thick in some places the Crystal Wolf has to use its teeth to tear them down. Echoing in the distance, Silver can hear a woman's voice humming along to the violins, and she uses it as a guide. She walks through what appears to have once been a ballroom, and hanging on the mantle over the decaying fireplace is a painting of a young woman resting her head on the lap of a man. She has bright amber eyes and pale blue tinted skin. Her platinum blonde hair trails over the man's lap in delicate ringlets. The man's hair is jet black and slicked to the side, but his face is scratched away, and only a pair of dark gray eyes remain. He curls his fingers in the woman's hair, holding it the way one would a leash.

Inscribed on a tarnished plaque below is "Moros and Lisbeth."

The humming turns to singing, and Silver continues on. The closer she gets, the more she can make out the words.

"Sing for me, sing for me

Pretty little birdie.

Your song soothes an old sinner's heart.

Cry for me, cry for me

Pretty little birdie.

Only the doves mourn my part.

A rope sways from a tree

Tied special just for me.

So sing for me, sing for me

Pretty little birdie."

Finally, Silver reaches the source of the singing; the witch sits on a throne that's cracked in half down the middle. Richard kneels at her feet and rests his head on her lap as she runs her fingers through his hair.

"He's quite a handsome man, wouldn't you agree?" the witch bends down and kisses Richard's forehead. "His eyes are beautiful. Just as black as my masters."

"Why take him? I thought you were only interested in kidnapping, young woman."

The witch snaps her fingers, and Silver doubles over as the Crystal Wolf banishes. She tries to summon another beast, but the witch snaps her fingers again, and the sensation of ants crawling inside her stomach makes her vomit.

"This is my castle," the witch says. Circling around the woman is a cloud of dark energy. "I make the rules here. Summoning Magic is against my rules."

Without stopping her stroking of Richard's face, the witch flicks her fingers and Silver finds herself paralyzed. The dark cloud of magic swirls closer to her.

"Would you like to hear a story, dear?" The witch asks Richard, forcing his head up and down. She finally looks up at Silver and, with another flick of her fingers, has the girl sitting before her. "You can listen too. I've always been fond of an audience."

Once upon a time, there was a woman who lived alone in the woods.

She kept to herself, tending to her garden and her tiny cottage. Her only company were the animals who lived in the woods and her master, but her master only came around rarely. He was a busy man with several plans, and he had a castle he needed to stay with to maintain. But he would visit her whenever possible. And when it wasn't possible, he was still always with her.

You see, her Master had blessed her with a gift. Magic was rare in those days, but by the grace of her lord, the woman was given great power. She could transform her body into any form she liked, so long as she had tasted its flesh. As long as she used her magic, she felt her master with her.

So during the day, she would transform and lure wild beasts and birds to her, so she may take on their forms. It was important she had several new forms, as magic was not accepted, and if any of the people in the village caught her, they would have her killed. Especially because at night, she would use her form to lead innocent maidens into her cottage.

Her master needed the young maidens so he may create a creature of legend, and he needed several young women to accomplish it.

But one day, her master disappeared.

The woman thought that he would return if she could catch all the young woman he needed, and so she continued to work.

However, one day, the woman was caught.

She'd been foolish; one maiden claimed she was the only one able to care for her siblings, as both their parents were dead. The woman took pity on the maiden, and released, with the promise that the maiden would never reveal the truth.

Of course, the first thing the maiden did was alert the rest of the village.

The villagers were angry with the woman. They called her a witch and put her on trial. They found all the maidens she'd been keeping and freed them, and used them as evidence to condemn her.

They sentenced the woman to be burned at the stake.

However, the woman did not die. This was another gift her master had given her. No matter what anyone else did, she would continue to live until her master deemed her time should end. When the villagers saw she had not died, they burned her again and again and while the woman's skin burned and scarred, she would not die.

In fear, they threw her into the sea.

The woman drifted away, and while her hands and feet were bound, and she breathed sea water into her lungs, she could not drown.

Eventually, the tide brought her to the shore of a new country. SHe freed herself on the sharp rocks of the seashore and walked.

She walked for days and weeks, never stopping in any towns she came across, never allowing water or food to grace her lips. She walked and walked and walked and walked until finally she came across a forest that was so dark and empty, in a village so small, she could hide away without being disturbed.

She walked further and deeper into the forest until she came upon a familiar sight. It was the castle her master gad maintained for many years. She knew then that he hadn't abandoned her, and that she must continue his mission. But how was she going to find new maidens in such a small town?

When the spring arrived, she received her answer. Several maidens came with their partners to witness the orchids. So by day, she disguised herself as an owl or a lynx to stalk them, and by night she would lure the ones she could to her castle. She couldn't risk one of them getting free and revealing her as they'd done in the past, and so the woman transformed the woman into birds. Even if they escaped, they could not reveal her secret. It was harder to get maidens alone, and so it took much longer for the woman to collect the amount her master would need, but she steadily gathered them, knowing the castle would preserve them until her master returned.

"It's been so long since I last saw my master," the witch sighs. "So long since I've heard his voice. But it won't be much longer now."

She rises from her throne, leaving Richard kneeling. As she walks towards Silver, the dark energy swirls in a cloud surrounding them.

"My master needed one hundred maidens to create the Phoenix. There are currently ninety nine in cages in my courtyard." Her hand clenches Silver's jaw. "How lucky am I to have found you?"

The witch begins to snap her fingers, only to be knocked off her feet as the aftershocks of an explosion tear throughout the castle.

Blue expends as much magic as he can to create an enormous orb as fast as possible. He grows it larger and larger until it is about as tall as the beast itself. His forehead beads with sweat as he clenches his teeth.

The beast finishes destroying the last of his previous orbs and turns to give chase to them.

"Razi! Now!"

"Moonlight Magic:" Razi sucks in a lungful of air. "Dark Hunter Howl!"

A supersonic howl unleashes past Razi's lips and forms into a black tornado, colliding with Blue's massive orb. Blue grabs Razi's hand and teleports them away.

An explosion erupts, sending the beast past the barrier, and barreling it into the trees, knocking them over like bowling pins. The back half of the already ramshackle castle turns into a pile of rubble and dust. The very foundation of the castle is cracked, and it seems like a simple breeze is all that will be needed to knock the rest of it to the ground.

Blue reappears with Razi in the castle's courtyard; the explosion knocked over all the cages and the birds scream in panic. The iron gate has also fallen down, and they can see twinkling lights not too far in the woods.

"That must be Mr. Eugene's search party," Razi says. He tries to set a cage back up properly, but the albatross inside snaps its beak at his fingers.

"It seems whatever illusion spell she placed on the gate broke." Blue takes a seat on the ground. "I'm sure Silver can handle the rest. I'm going to take a nap now. Wake me up when it's time to go back to the inn."

As Blue passes out on the ground, Razi kneels beside him, keeping guard. As the bird's finally calm down and stop their squawking, he realizes that the music has also stopped. What he doesn't notice, however, is the lone empty cage separated slightly from the others, and the missing crow.

Back in the witches thrown room, Silver finds her paralysis has ended as she kicks the witch in the chin. Silver aims to kick her again, but the witch grabs Silver's calve and pierces it with her nails. Silver yelps. She yanks on the witch's hair and uses the momentum to bash the witch's forehead onto her knee.

Blood spurts from the witch's lips as she spits out a few teeth, but refuses to let go. There's a burning sensation in Silver's leg, and she takes a second to realize it's not just from the witch's nails. She digs into her pocket and pulls out the bracelet. It's red hot, and she almost drops it.

On the inside is the same inscription: Moros Titenes, now glowing in a bright white.

But on the outside, the name is new:

Lisbeth Jorinde.

Silver bends over and grabs one of the witch's arms, just barely avoiding being bitten by her too as she rips the witch's nails out of her skin. She kneels on the witch's chest and holds the witch's arm taut, forcing the bracelet onto her wrist.

Lisbeth gasps, her body freezing in shock as the bracelet shrinks snuggly on her wrist.

"Where did you-" She stops, suddenly gasping for air as the bracelet grows brighter. A beam of light bursts from the center of her chests, knocking Silver aside.

"Master... Master... Why?" Lisbeth stands as the light overtakes her. She convulses. She screams. Light pours from her mouth and her eyes, and a second later, her entire body bursts into a pile of ash.

The bracelet clatters to the ground. spins for a bit, then fades away.

"Oh my," Richard says.

"Yeah." Silver rubs her aching calve. "You said it."

Together, Richard and Silver hobble out of the castle and back into the courtyard. Gone are the cages of exotic birds, instead replaced by nearly a hundred young woman sobbing in groups as the townspeople do their best to console them.

Richard scans the crowd with his eyes, his foot tapping an unsteady rhythm. Silver sighs.

"I'll be fine if you leave me here," she says.

"Are you certain?" Richard asks.

"Yeah. I'm sure Lillian's looking for you, too." He nods, carefully helping Silver sit on a soft spot of grass before he takes off running. About thirty seconds later, Silver hears a high-pitched voice almost hysterically scream, "RICHARD!"

She releases a breath of relief.

Silver must dose off for a while then, because the next thing she knows, she's being shaken awake by Raylin. He hands her a bottle of water, and she almost chokes she drinks it so fast.

"Come on, we're all heading back into town now. You'll sleep better in a bed."

"Where are Blue and Razi?" Silver asks.

"My dad's taking care of them." Raylin points over to where Eugene is carrying Blue on his back while Razi marches sleepily next to them. "I told them I'd make sure you get back in one piece. Let's go."

Silver tries to stand and yel[s as her leg flares up in pain. Ray;in takes a look at her calve for a second before tutting and shaking his head.

"We'll need to get you healed up. In the meantime, here." He bends down and holds his arms at his side. "Hop on."

As Raylin carries her through the woods, Silver can't help but notice that they feel different; gone is the ominous dread that filled her every time they walked through them before. The trees seem warmer. Lighter. Almost as if they were dormant before and are finally coming back to life. Crickets form a tiny chorus, and she thinks she even heard a nightingale.

She's back asleep before they even reach the inn.

~March 27th x800~

The next day, at Eugene's request, a pair of Rune Knights come to Orchid Village to help sort out the mess left by the witch. Nearly a hundred woman need to be reunited with their families. Half of them are from outside of Fiore, and about a third were taken more than fifty years ago. Even more confusing, Selenium wasn't found amongst the women, and Boron has also vanished.

"Hopefully, they just ran into each other last night and left," Eugene had said when he discovered Boron's empty room that morning. He didn't look convinced.

As Silver explains to the Rune Knights what happened when she was alone in the castle, Razi fidgets in his seat.

Lieutenant Flare Jones is a humanoid, black furred wolf with piercing red eyes and an almost monstrously bulky body. He has a gash over his left eye, and a mane and tail stained the color of blood. Instead of the standard Rune Knight uniform, he wears a trench coat with a cowboy hat.

Everything about him puts Razi's hackles on edge, and he does his best not to start growling.

"Where you still unable to use your magic when you began the physical altercation with the suspect?" Lieutenant Jones asks, his voice a low, southern drawl.

Silver opens her mouth and closes it. She thinks for a moment.

"I didn't bother to try. I guess I was too busy trying to keep her from attacking me to see if it would."

"There's no need to get sharp with me, ma'am. It was just a question."

"Right," Silver sighs. "Sorry."

"We're just about done here, anyway. I'm gonna have you follow up with Ensign Lygia real quick, but you should be ready after that. Kalli!" He waves over a young woman with wavy, pale blue hair. She finishes up her conversation and starts walking over. "Have a good day, ma'am. Young man." He tips his hat and goes off to interview someone else.

Ensign Kalliope Lygia is a tall, slender young woman with shoulder length half pulled into a ponytail. Her curly bangs and loose locks of hair frame face, and her upturned, almond-shaped eyes are sea-foam in color. Her complexion is naturally very fair, but has tanned to a cool beige.

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Kalli. You've just gotta sign these release forms, then your free to go." She holds out a clipboard and points to some highlighted areas.

"What for?"

"I don't know." Kalli shrugs. "I didn't make them. I just get people to sign them."

Silver skims over the forms; all they are asking to confirm is that she was interviewed and is satisfied. She initials and signs, then shows Razi where to do the same.

Kalli takes the clipboard back and barely checks to make sure it's fully filled.

"Cool. Have a safe trip home." Kalli leaves before stopping and pulling something out of her uniform pocket. "Actually, would you mind giving this to your Guild Master for me? It's a letter from my boss, and I'd rather not go all the way to Barberry if I don't have to."

"Sure, I guess." Silver takes the letter.

"Why couldn't he just send it like normal?" Razi asks.

Kalli shrugs.

"I don't write the secret letters. I just make sure they get delivered. Byyyyyyyye."

Silver and Razi go back inside the inn, just as Richard and Lillian are checking out. Upon seeing them, Lillian bursts into tears, grasping hands with both of them.

"Thank you," she sobs. "Thank you so much. I don't know what we would have done if you weren't here."

"Don't mention it," Silver says, awkwardly patting her Lillian's hand. "We were just doing our job."

"And you're really nice! Of course, we were going to help you." Razi adds. Lillian cries harder and pulls Razi into a hug. After a minute, Richard puts his hand on Lillian's shoulder.

"Come along now, dear. We need to get going before we miss our train. I'm sure your mother is worried enough as it is." Lillian nods and releases Razi, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. Richard shakes Silver's and Razi's hand. "Truly, though, we are forever grateful. We will tell everyone what a great guild Phoenix Refuge is."

With a last hug from Lillian for the both of them, Silver and Razi wave goodbye to the couple.

"We've got to get ready to go now too, or we'll miss our own train." Silver checks the clock in the lobby. "If Blue doesn't get up soon, we're leaving him behind."

In the darkness of his room, Blue speaks into the hand mirror.

"I expect to be paid extra," he says. "You didn't say anything about a guard dog at the back door."

"Apologies. I thought the beast had died ages ago. It seems it was under the same spell as the castle."

"Are you sure you weren't trying to kill me so you didn't have to finish paying me?"

"Why kill you if I still have work for you?" The voice chuckles. "Worry not. If I truly wanted you dead, you'd be able to tell. The money will be waiting in your room in Barberry as promised. I will contact you with your next job in a fortnight."

The mirror ceases its glowing, and Blue tosses it into his suitcase with a sigh. He rubs his leg. Fortunately, it was able to be healed almost good new. A few days of bed rest, and he'll be fine.

If he didn't pay so well, I'd hunt him down and kill him.

"BLUE! HURRY UP OR WE'LL MISS OUR TRAIN!"

"I'M COMING!" Blue grabs his bag, floating down the stairs.

At the bottom, Silver rolls her eyes.

"Finally!" She snatches Blue's bag and throws it over her shoulder. "Razi's already at the train! We've gotta go!"

They rush to the station as fast as they can with Blue unable to run and make it just as the train whistles its final warning. On the platform, Razi Eugene and Raylin wave them over.

"You made it!" Razi cheers.

"Of course we did." Blue pants.

"Barely." Silver hands Blue his luggage back.

"Members of Phoenix Refuge are always welcome here," Eugene says, patting each of them on the back before handing them a bag of jewels. "Stop by anytime you like."

"Tell Evander I said 'Hi.'" Raylin adds.

With that, the three of them get on the train heading back home.

Didn't quite make it on Friday but I'm glad I was able to get a chapter out this week. I was rushing a little so I may need to go back and edit this one a bit more later, but we'll see.

Thank you everyone for the reviews!

See you all next week!

Credits:

Flare Jones - Dusk5261

Kalliope (Kalli) Lygia - Taigablade