*Tosses chapter to readers face*
It was lunch time at Kuoh Academy and Alphonse sat on his designated desk next to the window, head resting against the base of his palm. He watched the miniature figures of the numerous students going about their business and enjoying their brief hour of freedom. Meanwhile, his other hand twirled a pen around his thumb absentmindedly, book laid in front of him, almost forgotten. It wasn't everyday he didn't find himself in a reading mood. Ever since the park incident, he'd been busy with tracking her down to ask very pointed questions.
He didn't delude himself. He knew well enough their second meeting will quickly devolve into hostility. Alphonse resolved not to be caught off-guard the next time. With how peaceful his stay has been so far, he didn't expect to be attacked at all. He was lucky enough he carried with him his home-made grimoire.
Unfortunately, he didn't have with him his own personal grimoires. As it is, he had to make do with what he has on hand and his own ingenuity.
In the days that followed, after his successful meeting with Captain Shirai, Alphonse spent most of his free time, creating scrolls of a wide variety of spells. These scrolls, unlike the pages of a grimoire, atrophies after activating the spell contained within. They are substantially easier to produce than his home-made grimoire. If the worst possible scenario rears its head, with his grimoire capacity dry and his stock of scrolls all used up, his mastery will enable him to use low tier spells freely. However, the peculiarity of the ambient soul energy made casting spells without aid chaotic and prone to misfires.
Improving upon his proficiency over its unfamiliar nature is still a work in progress.
The classroom door violently slid open, creating a loud crack, interrupting Alphonse's quiet musings. He glanced curiously at the figure standing outside the doorway.
Yui Shirai wheezed in exhaustion as she stomped her way into the classroom. The day wasn't really going well for her. She woke up later than usual, which made her less than presentable with her make up missing. With how hectic her morning was, she completely forgot to bring the manila envelope her dad gave to her. She only remembered about it after arriving to school, making it too late for her to go back and pick it up, lest she ends up late.
Now, with her hands clutching the said envelope, she swept her gaze around the rather sparse classroom and zeroed in on its intended recipient.
It was rather surprising to her that the recluse of her class and her dad knew of each other. It wasn't as if Alphonse is a troublemaker for the police to take notice of him. If anything, she thought of him as an upstanding citizen. He certainly is a shining beacon of hope if one compared him to the trio of infamous peeping toms.
She felt her face heat up in anger, remembering the time when those three tried to peep into the girl's locker room. Only for their plan to fall apart because a passerby wondered about why they were standing on each other's shoulders. They were ultimately caught because one of them proclaimed to the heavens, and with pride, that it was their 'duty' to appreciate the wonderful figures of all the girls in the campus.
Well, suffice to say, the track and field team had enough of their unrestricted behavior. With the faculty either unable or unwilling to anything about their lecherous manners, Yui and the rest of her team closely following suit, marched out, ready to inflict bodily harm for all victims they inadvertently harmed with their amoral behavior.
Yui shook those thoughts out of her head and walked towards Alphonse. However, with each step, she became more conscious of her disheveled appearance. Not to mention, she ran a few kilometers under the blazing sun, making her sweat profusely, and for her uniform to cling to her body rather uncomfortably.
She noticed how he subtly sat straighter as her steps shortened the distance between them. "Alphonse-san", she started, "This is for you." Yui presented the envelope to him. His eyes lingered at the package. He then stared up at her in an inquisitive manner. She answered, "It's from my father."
Father? I don't remember ever meeting or even knowing Yui's father. Nevertheless, he grabbed the envelope, ripped the seal off, and pulled out the contents within. Yui, move over to his back and leaned to have a closer look, curious of what's written on the paper.
"Ah!" Alphonse exclaimed with delight, as he quickly read through to the end of the paper. Yui could readily see the familiar scrawl of her father's signature at the bottom. There was also what seem to be an official stamp of sort next to the signature. "I thought Captain Shirai will be sending this through the mail." His smile froze, and then he glanced at her, finally making sense of her declaration. "Yui Shirai. Kenji Shirai. Captain Shirai must be your father."
Yui rolled her brown eyes and said with a playful tone, "Yep. What tipped you off?"
"Apologies, for not making the connection sooner. In my defense, the captain did only mention in passing on having a daughter attending Kuoh. I didn't know he was talking about you."
"It's not a big deal. Besides, I don't mention my dad at all in school." She leaned closer, eyes alight and level at him with suspicion. She also snaked a hand on top of his shoulder, lightly gripping him to stay still. "Say, I am curious, why you know my dad at all." Alphonse comically craned his neck away from her head as she invaded, neat as you please, his personal space.
"Uh…", his eyes wandered anywhere in the classroom, trying not to look at her. "It's something regarding a research paper of mine."
"Oh really. Alphonse-san, if you remember. We share the same classes. And, we don't have any papers to write. Much less a research paper."
"Of course we don't," he dully parroted her. "This is solely for a personal project of mine, that's all." Yui released her hold over him, having enough of teasing him around like a suspect. She stood straight and sat on her seat. She then leaned over.
"If you don't mind me asking, what's that paper for," she asked flicking a finger at the official-looking document."
"This?" Alphonse allowed her to get a closer look, seeing no harm in showing it. "This is a permit, allowing myself to step foot on a few lots in town legally."
Yui raised her brows as she said, "Oh really? Why are you going over those lots anyway?"
He casted his eyes away from her and said, "I'm going to take a closer look at them." He mentally added, Hopefully, they've hidden themselves in one of those five. He then spoke out loud to her, "and, take a few photos of the place."
Her face lit up, a smile appearing on her face. "Can I come? I'm great at photography," she said as she mimed a camera with her hands. Alphonse jumped in surprised, staring at her with wide eyes. Yui explained to the befuddled boy, in boast, "I may be a star athlete in Track and Field, but, what I really love is photography. What a better way to help the community than combining my obvious helpful nature and my hobby all at the same time. Plan's flawless I tell you. So, what do you say."
His thoughts went into overdrive. He didn't expect this kind of development at all. Not to mention the original purpose of all the investigative leg work to begin with is to hunt one winged-witch to the ground. Which, by the end of it all, somebody's going to return to the wheel and have a nice little chat with Berath.
"I-I… No," his tone cold and final.
"No?" Yui pouted and whined like a child. Her wide chocolate brown eyes bore straight through his eyes, "But why?! C'mon! Pretty please?" Alphonse look away from those dangerous, compelling eyes. Willing himself to endure against her charming mental assaults. Though as he did, he regretted it instantly. Instead of contending with one charming lady, he now noticed the piercing attention he is receiving from the rest of the girls in the classroom.
Uh, this is not good. From their sharp glares, they were silently urging him, on the pain of death, or at least something very close to it, to accept Yui's proposition. Apparently, there's a camaraderie between all the girls of his class. And now, he found himself the sole focus of this sisterhood's ire. Whatever wrong I've done during my previous life, doesn't justify this kind of treatment at all.
He reluctantly turned his gaze back to Yui; filled with an uncomfortable dread. He hated puberty even more now. If he was still in his preadolescence-self, he'd easily brushed aside the girls' demand as if they were nothing more than a fly. As it is, his barely controlled hormones compelled him to acquiesce to any young woman's demand. Especially, those who possess a significantly attractive physique, which this school have in spades. And, better yet, if they have the traits he greatly valued in a partner. A keen intellect for one. As if to prove a point, his mind popped up an image of a very familiar bespectacled face, giving him one of her rare smiles.
Alphonse smacked his face with his left hand, banishing the delightful image away. I really, really hate myself sometimes. He sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose, and exasperatedly spoke to the still pouting Yui, "Fine. Just-", he frowned, "Just wear something comfortable you can safely run with it." The girl gave him a puzzled look and he added, "It's for safety reasons. Please just go along with it." The athlete picked up the connotation over that single word, lightly pondering on its hidden meaning. However, she couldn't concentrate as the girls were gleefully whispering amongst themselves.
It has been an hour since the final toll of the school's bell rang, signaling the end of classes for the day. Yui jogged from her home towards their agreed meeting place. She squinted her eyes and placed a hand to protect them from the vibrant orange rays of the setting sun. At the distance, she could see the fading facade of the building coming into view. As per his request, she decked herself with a pair of blue over white running shoes, a knee-length black shorts with three white stripes on each side, and a charcoal camisole underneath an oversized long-sleeved white shirt. To top it all up, she tied her shoulder-length hair into a tight bun, with a few strands of her hair framing her oval face. Hanging from her shoulder is a bag where her personal camera is safely stored.
She turned a corner and spotted a familiar figure in a dark green, long-sleeved collar shirt coupled with a simple pair of khaki cargo pants. He kneeled on one knee as he rummaged inside his sling bag, which is smaller than the one he usually brings to school. The closer she approached him, the more details she could pick out. For one, he seems to be bulkier than before. If it was at all possible. He also had another pack tied on his left thigh securely with two straps. One around the thigh in question and another on the hip. She could see a few stacks of playing cards sticking out from the bag's pockets.
However odd the playing cards were to her, Yui could perceive that there is something off with him. He's movements were too clinical from the norm. There is also a frown that seem set on staying there for the time being. If anything, she is reminded strongly of her dad during his detective days. Particularly, in the months where the town was haunted by a string of brutal murders. She didn't want to dwell on that particularly dark cloud which hovered above their home during that time. Still, it was disconcerting see the usually carefree class hermit making that kind of face. There might be something more to this than it meets the eye.
Alphonse check and recheck the scrolls through every pocket and bag he brought with him. Its archaic name aside, the scrolls are repurposed playing cards he brought wholesale from a toy store near his home. He can produce the scrolls using plain printing paper as a cheaper alternative, but the cards tend to be easier to handle and can be thrown with a great deal farther than a flimsy piece of paper.
He is nervous so to speak, and it's not related to any kind of first date jitters, which is another ballgame altogether. There is something he could perceived just beyond his perception, but he couldn't quite pinpoint what it is. Adding to his already full plate, is his regretful decision to let Yui participate in this venture. Damn peer pressure. He mumbled to himself, "This isn't good at all…"
"What isn't good at all?" Alphonse looked up to find the girl in question walking up to him in a carefree manner. She stopped right in front of him, a hand on her hips, "Well?"
"You're here," Alphonse simply said as he straightened himself out. He looked at her from head to toe and nodded in satisfaction. Yui, meanwhile, blinked as his previous gloomy demeanor disappeared like the early morning mist. "That's…good."
"You make it sound like I'm unwanted," Yui joked as she heartily slapped his back and started pushing him to move towards the ominous looking warehouse. "C'mon, we've got daylight to burn."
The first obstacle barring their way is the tall wired fence running all throughout the edge of the property. Alphonse approached the fence and took a good grip of the wire mesh and shook it, testing its sturdiness. There were no barbed wires at the top, making climbing over easily feasible.
"Boost me up," he heard from Yui. Alphonse turned and saw her, securing the black bag tightly and walking away from him before turning around and assumed an upright running start. He meshed his hands together, his feet wide and knees bent. "Here I come!" Yui scraped her shoe on the pavement as she sprinted. Alphonse braced himself as she put her foot on his hands and jumped. He grunted as she flung the girl upward into the sky with all his might.
"Woaaah!" The star athlete let out a surprised yelp as she sailed farther than she imagined. She even did a full aerial flip before stumbling the landing somewhat, scraping her knee on the rough ground. Yui turned back towards Alphonse, a compliment at the tip of her tongue when she is surprised yet again as he casually walked by her. "What! How?" She looked at him, then at the fence, and then back to him; wondering how he climbed over the fence so fast. Alphonse just stared at her with muted amusement.
His amusement over her bewilderment soon came to a crashing end as a strong rotting smell wafted at their direction, assaulting their sense of smell. Yui backpedaled, as if she physically walked into a wall, from the nauseating smell; covering her mouth and nose with the sleeve of her shirt.
"Ugh," she gagged, tasting the bile rising from the back of her throat. "What the heck is that smell?" Alphonse didn't answer her. He was busy staring straight ahead at the inky maw of the warehouse entrance, trying to see through its veil of darkness. A frown soon appeared on his face as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration.
All of his senses told him of the thick, nauseating uneasiness permeating from the inside of the building. The smell wasn't helping either as he knew what it signified. Alphonse grabbed one of Yui's elbows and forcefully pulled her back. She yelped and almost stumbled onto the ground, but his firm, yet crushingly tight hold prevented her from falling face first. The athlete knew her small frame belie how hefty she weight is with all the training and practice she went through over the years honing her muscles. And yet, here she is, easily dragged around like a child's doll.
She started to protest to her surprisingly forceful classmate, "Hey! Wait! Where are we going?! We haven't seen the inside yet."
"We need to leave," he simply said in a firm commanding voice which leaves no room for any arguments, "Now." However, a honeyed voice reverberated from everywhere all at once, putting a stop to his plans of retreating out of the place which reeks heavily of death.
"Yes, where are you going?" The voice continued on, "It's quite rude to leave without saying hello. No?"
Alphonse swiftly turned about, moving in front of Yui, hiding her behind his bulkier frame. Still, he couldn't see anybody or anything out of the norm. He wasn't taking any chances with his sense of danger flaring like Magran's fire. The wizard whipped out his grimoire from the utility bag tied around his left thigh, ready for battle.
Yui peaked from behind Alphonse's frame, wondering why her classmate seem to tense up suddenly. Well, to be fair. The woman's ethereal-like voice sent chills up and down through her spine, but there wasn't anybody there at all. "Wha-", she exclaimed with surprise, "I thought somebody's there." Alphonse didn't answer her, still concentrating straight ahead.
"Shirai-san," Alphonse suddenly broke the silence, "I need you to do something really important." Alphonse spoke to her, still with his commanding tone, but now, there is something else laced with it which Yui couldn't identify.
"Uh…" She hesitated, still unsure of the bizarre situation they seem to have landed themselves in. Before she could clarify what he meant, the ethereal voice spoke again.
"Oh, come now. It's unbecoming for a host to not invite the guests in. Especially, if they're the surprising kind." A woman's head appeared from the darkness. She had a mop of white shoulder-length messy hair, framing her beautiful face, followed by a naked torso. Yui blushed a crimson red at the sight of the naked woman with voluptuous figure appearing from the warehouse entrance. However, her embarrassment quickly turned into fascinating horror as the naked woman completely emerged from the darkness.
Alphonse rigidly watched as the half-woman, half amalgamation of something else with a spear on each hand slowly ambled her way towards them. He could easily see the powerful muscles ripple with each step. Feel the vibrations as she shifted her considerable weight from one clawed feet to another, her eyes gazing hungrily upon them, licking her lips in anticipation. Inside, he panicked. He was prepared for a confrontation with one of the Fallen Angels and not with whatever this creature is. With Yui with him, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on finding its weakness, let alone confront it with a chance of winning.
"Shirai-san. Shirai-san!" He loudly called, trying to snap her out of her stupor, as he pulled three playing cards out with his other hand and threateningly pointing them towards the chimera-like creature. "We need to retreat. Fast."
"W-what the heck is that!?" She shakily pointed at the advancing monster.
"Worry about it later, now run!" Yui frantically nodded and turned around, sprinting towards their point of entry.
"Tsk, tsk." The creature forlornly shook her head, her white hair swaying gently, at their pathetic attempt to escape her trap. She hefted one of her spears and threw it. The spear raced towards the retreating figure, intent on skewering her. Alphonse, having enough of impossible women and their love of spearing people to death, fished out his grimoire, charging its with soul energy and slapped the spear midair. The weapon bounced and whirled crashing into the ground violently with a loud clatter.
Viser raised an eyebrow over that particular bit of showmanship, "That's very interesting. A magician." A swirling red intricate circle appeared in front of her as she extended a hand saying, "No matter, your association will never find any of you after I'm finished." He didn't wait for her to finish casting whatever that intricate circle is. Like those western movies, whoever can fire first with a great deal of accuracy is usually the winner. The same thing also applies to magic duels and to a lesser extent group combat. Or better yet, he who casts multiple spells before the opponent could so much as cast one is usually is at the advantage.
The cards hissed like a firecracker waiting to explode as it disappeared from the forceful channeling of soul energy through it. The result, however, are three molten rocks racing towards the creature. The stray devil dodged the first and second fireball by skillfully dodging the fiery projectiles and jumping away from the resultant explosions that followed. But, the third one struck her right onto her human abdomen, leaving her screaming in pain.
Yui almost reached the fence when an earthly shriek forced her to skid to a stop. Unable to resist, she turned around to find the monster clutching her abdomen. Around her, dozens of small flames littered the ground in front of her. She squeaked out weakly, "Wh-what?" Her mouth inexplicably dropped as dozens of blue spectral blades appeared around her classmate. Those very same blades shot out, racing towards the monster's general direction.
A few of those ghostly blades manage to wound the shocked stray devil. However, Viser soon managed to regain composure and started to knock those strange ghostly blades away with the use of her single spear. The swords' trajectories were simple enough to read and easily dodge those she couldn't knock away. She wasn't threatened much by this magician. He didn't have the power to strike her down, that much she could tell. She is wary, however, of how this puny and weak magician can cast spells without the tell-tale circle appearing. She licked her lips, mind churning at the possibilities of possessing the same circle-less magic as it is inherently faster and ideal for launching any surprise attack.
Alphonse noted the strange glint appearing in her eyes before she came charging right at him like a trouncing horse, intent on crushing him with her humongous feet. He barely managed to jump away in time as she thundered on through, landing sideways on his arm and tearing the fabric of his clothes. He locked his eyes at the creature and saw the frozen figure of Yui as the chimera madly charged at her.
"Shirai-san! RUN!", he shouted at her while another card disappeared in his hand.
Yui heard Alphonse shout for to move, but even if she wanted to, it felt like her feet were strongly glued into the ground. She could hear her heart's own thunderous beat and everything seem to slow down to a crawl. The monster of a woman grinned, showing its white shark-like teeth and her eyes were alight with savage delight at seeing her terror. However, to her surprise, the charging chimera suddenly stumbled and hit the ground in a forceful skid, losing her grip over her remaining spear due to the sudden impact.
"What the-?" The Stray Devil felt something snake around one of her hind legs and turned. A vine twisted its way around her leg. And, it wasn't the only leg. All around her, the concrete broke away to make room for the rapidly growing vines as they wound their way around her, making it difficult for her to move freely. She thrashed and ripped at the ever-growing hostile plant, trying to free herself from the biological menace.
The shock and the relief of almost being run over made Yui land on her rear. Everything didn't make sense to her anymore. A nonexistent monster trying to run her down. Improbable feats of nature occurring. Ghostly swords appearing from out of nowhere. Not to mention Alphonse, her hermit of a classmate, is not fazed by all these things happening judging with how he calmly made his way towards her, keeping one eye at the still struggling monster.
"Are you alright?", Alphonse asked as he offered her a hand.
"N-no…" Yui shakily grabbed his hand, holding to it tightly. He easily lifted her up to her feet, carefully checking for any injuries. Alphonse tried to let go of her hand, but Yui's rigid hold over his hand told him she's not letting go of it anytime soon. With no other choice, he had another card out and bopped the edge against her forehead. She winced at being hit by the card, but to her surprise, the it disintegrated in front of her along with the gripping fear.
"Any injuries?" Yui shook her head at his inquiry and replied, "I'm fine. But, what is going on?" Alphonse just shrugged his shoulders. "And, how about that?!" She pointed an almost accusatory finger at the tangled mess that is Viser, "What the hell is that-that monster!?" Again, he shrugged his shoulders. He is almost as stumped as hers over whatever that creature is. "Is there anything you know at all?" Yui finally asked, clearly exasperated by his noncommittal shrugs.
Alphonse glanced at the still struggling Chimera sideways before looking back to Yui, "All I know is, we need to run. That thing's been around dead bodies judging by the heavy stench permeating around it." Yui widened her eyes at his declaration and warily stared at the creature. She noted its hungry red eyes glaring at them, while it snarled and angrily ripped another thick growing vine off its body.
"I need to tell dad about this," said Yui as she pulled her phone out. Before she could hit the call button, Alphonse placed a hand on the phone, stopping her. She eyed her classmate, puzzled by his action. "What are you doing?"
He was quiet for a few second, contemplating on their situation. "Think for a moment," he started, "I'm barely keeping it restrained for now. What makes you think the Kuoh Town Police is able to take it in, let alone alive without them taking any serious casualties."
"Wait! You did that?" She pointed at the creature's direction, clearly talking about the fast sprouting vines growing out of the ground. Alphonse curtly nodded, noting there wasn't any humor or amusement on his face. "H-how? The cards…", remembering the impossible disappearing card trick from earlier. Apparently, the class hermit turned out to be card-dealing, magic-slinging magician. She shook her head, stopping herself from going into a tangent, "Then, you can keep it restrained."
"Shira-san…", Alphonse kneaded the side of his temple, "As far as I can tell, magic is not viewed as anything but flights of fancy here. In fact, I believe the common people, such as yourself, is deliberately kept in the dark to things inhabitants considers as supernatural in nature."
"Like Vampires and Werewolves?" Yui said knowing some of her clubmates obsession with them.
Alphonse only shrugged, "I'm not exactly versed on the supernatural lore myself, having only been made aware of its existence recently." He squared his shoulders as he continued, "But, there may be an organization of some sort which takes care of preventing non-supernatural entities from ever discovering their existence." It was a working hypothesis he created during the lull between school and his 'personal project' based on how this hidden world remains a secret and exists only as mythic stories by many to this day.
"Think for a moment, if we let your father and the rest of the police force know of that," he pointed at the Chimera, "and more importantly, of yourself. They may arrange our death as accidental, or dirty their hands and dump our bodies in a ditch somewhere. They may also simply wiped our memories. We simply don't know what they'll do." He could see Yui comprehending the complicated and bizarre situation they've landed themselves in. He could still remember the brutality of the Fallen Angel as she 'murdered' his doppelgänger to keep her presence a secret. With her attitude as a baseline for how other mythological entity might react to being discovered, he's not taking any chances. Secrecy is his, best protection until he gains a clearer picture.
"Then, what about you?" Yui placed both of her hands on her hips, "Aren't you a part of the 'supernatural' world? Yourself being something of a magician and whatnot." He scratched the one side of his cheek, his serious demeanor replaced by an acute nervousness.
"My situation is more complicated. I'm unable to explain it fully." His tone turned serious once again, "We better leave soon. I doubt the ruckus I've made will not go unnoticed."
"And, where do you think you're going?" the ethereal voice of the Chimera spoke once again. Alphonse snapped his head to face the snarling creature as she continued, "You think you can just leave like that without my say so?" He was surprise to find her free from the Tanglefoot spell. He noted the vines around her lay rotten and lifeless. The intricate red glowing circle appeared again. "You are mine now!"
Alphonse tried to cast a spell from the grimoire, but a bright flash blinded both Yui and him as they were swallowed by an inky maw opening at their feet. Blinded momentarily and feeling himself falling, he helplessly tried to search for any hand or foothold to no avail. Yui frantically flailed her arms around, a fading scream escaping her throat as the maw closed in on them. The maw shut silently and they disappeared without a trace.
AN: Couldn't release, or even finish this before last Tuesday. Thanks to being another year older... At least I got useful gifts for the trouble.
Now, this chapter wasn't even suppose to go near the five thousand-word mark. I wonder how that happened... *Squints* Don't get used to this. *Rightly proceeds to write another chapter of similar length* (no promises and/or guarantees)