Ok guys, I am SO sorry for the incredibly long wait. I really wanted this chapter to be posted in July, but I had a streak of just bad weeks that just killed my motivation to write. But, I managed to pull myself together and finally finish this chapter. University will be starting real soon, so I won't have much time to update, but I will not stop updating this story, it will just take longer to write chapters. Also, some people (actually just one, I know who you are) have been abusing the anonymous reviews to send demands for me to update. By demands, I mean using profane language and calling me names to get me to update. I'm not that bothered by update requests, but once you start demanding in such a way, then it gets annoying and won't make the chapter go out any faster. Anyway, I would like to thank RadioPoisoning for his help with the Italian language and my beta redscarfninja for being my beta.
Postumi di Sbornia
I open my eyes and I'm blinded by a piercing light, and suddenly, it feels like a nail is being struck through my head. My mouth is dry with a terrible taste that makes me grimace, and I move my tongue around in an attempt to get rid of it. I try to put my hand over my head, to block the vicious, evil light, but my arm is sluggish, and it takes longer than what I would have liked. I let out a low groan of misery, and I roll on my stomach, burying my face in to a pillow.
Why do I feel like I was hit by a freight train then hit by a car and then into another freight train!? What happened last night...?
"You're finally up!" I hear Araña exclaim in excitement, and immediately my headache goes from a bell ringing in my head to a nuclear explosion, and I immediately cover my ears and groan loudly from the intense ringing in my ears.
God, why have you forsaken me!?
"Araña! Be quiet, it is too early for yelling." I hear the muffled scolding of Kagura. After a little bit of time, the pain in my head lessens enough for me to function like a normal person, and I take my hands off my ears.
"Yeah, the poor girl drank a lot of wine, so she must be having the biggest hangover of her life!" Risley exclaims.
"It seems like you are experienced…" Kagura accuses.
"Heh, I never got drunk myself, but I have seen my father drink a little too much before…" Risley rebuts.
Oh, that's what happened… How much did I drink!? A barrel!? Oh no, I'm turning into that drunk girl from Fairy Tail! I raise my head, my vision is blurry and the light from the room causes my eyes to ache. A few blinks and my vision clears to see everyone looking at me. "W-ha…" My throat is hoarse and my mouth is dry. I try once again. "W-What happened last night?" I force out through my strained vocal cords.
Risley smirks. "Well, you practically drank a whole bottle of wine. I don't blame ya for falling prey to it though, it was a bit strong." She leans back on the chair she is sitting in(on?) and stretches her arms. "It was pretty awesome…"
Kagura shakes her head. "You should really watch what you drink, Rubi. People get reckless when consuming that much alcohol." She crosses her arms and has a look of disappointment on her face. "And things they usually regret."
"What… What did I do last night?" I croak out.
As soon as the words leave my mouth, Kagura's cheeks flush red, Araña starts to giggle a bit, and Risley has a smug, toothy grin stretching across her face. "Well…" Risley chuckles out.
Oh God, what did I do…
"Risley, do it, and I will personally see to your execution!" Kagura hisses.
I feel my face scrunch up in confusion. What happened that has Kagura threatening the life of Risley?
After a few, tense moments, Risley sighs, but her smile is still on her face. "You kinda tripped and pulled Kagura's pants down… and her panties…" Her grin was bright, and she looks to Kagura with a big, bold wink and a cheeky whistle.
Oh… Now I feel my cheeks heat up.
Kagura keeps her expression neutral, before a dark look creeps upon her face, causing Risley to jump in her seat. "When we get out of here, you are going to suffer…"
If I weren't dying on the inside, and deeply embarrassed, I would be laughing right now. "Sorry about that… I will try to not to drink to so much next time…"
Someone suddenly clears their throat, and I look to see Arvella standing behind Risley holding a tray with a teapot and cups on it. Said girl jumps out of the chair with a surprised yelp and lands on the floor. Arvella has a neutral expression as she proceeds to sit down where Risley just was and calmly sets the tea on the coffee table.
"Arvella-san, you shouldn't sneak up on wizards like that!" Risley says on the ground, clutching her heart.
"You should be more aware of your surroundings, Risley…" Kagura has a little smirk on her face.
I can't be bothered to make a snarky comment, because I feel a bad feeling in my stomach manifest, but it doesn't compare to the headache that is still ravaging my brain.
Arvella looks to Risley. "Sorry I scared you like that, but I have some things to discuss…" Her eyes narrow, and her features become serious. If I didn't feel like shit right now, I would be tensing up, but instead, the pain in my stomach grows larger, and I can see the others start sweating from the intense look Arvella is giving us. "Now that my husband is at work, and my daughter is at school, let's get down to business. Where do you really come from?"
I don't feel so good…
"What do you mean?" Kagura tries her best to hide her nervousness, but she has a bead of sweat running down her face. Risley and Araña are trying their hardest to stay calm, but they are squirming nervously. "We are from Crocus."
Arvella sighs and glares, which is so intense, it feels like there is an overbearing pressure coming just from her eyes. It somehow manages to pierce my headache, but it also makes my stomach ache unbearable. "I don't like to be lied to." She says slowly, but with venom.
Kagura keeps her face straight, but her hands are in fists, trying to keep her composure. "We are not ly-"
"I saw you four come out of a mirror." Arvella snaps, silencing her instantly.
The room is silent, until a wide Kagura finally says, "Oh… That…"
I can't take it anymore! I can't hold it! I jump off the couch, clutching my stomach. "Where's the bathroom!" I shout in panic.
Arvella calmly points, and I sprint like my live depended on it.
Usain Bolt got nothing on me!
XXX
3rd person POV
The room was silent after Rubina scampered. So silent, that a pin drop could be heard.
Araña was fidgeting in her seat, her eyes looking everywhere except the scary, deadpanning woman sitting in the chair across from her. Risley was trying her best not to panic and was practicing a breathing exercise while twiddling her thumbs nervously. Kagura was still as a statue, a bead of sweat running down from her forehead.
The silence was interrupted by a violent eruption of noise that came beyond the door of the bathroom, which caused the three girls to jump in their seats and look towards the door with worry. For what seemed like eternity, there was a horrible, disgusting retching sound emanating from bathroom.
It sounded like the personification of human misery and suffering that prevailed all of existence.
"You know..." Arvella said after sipping her tea, causing the three to snap their attention her. "Despite the situation we find ourselves in…" She took another sip, her eyes slightly apologetic. "I am genuinely sorry about my husband's recklessness in giving your friend that much wine. He genuinely thought she was the right age to drink that much alcohol."
The three girls didn't know how to respond to such a casual apology in an otherwise very tense situation. Kagura starts to respond, but was interrupted by an opening door.
XXX
Rubina POV
I slowly stumble out of the bathroom after experiencing perhaps the worst bout of sickness I have ever had. Arvella was calmly sipping tea while Kagura, Risley and Araña are staring at me, their faces red and damp from stress. I walk to where I was before, the eyes of friends following me the whole way, and sit down. Despite vomiting out what I assumed was my entire life force into a Ye Olde Chamber Pot (eww!), and a headache that felt like someone drove a nail through my skull, I actually feel quite good. I guess puking out your soul into a medieval poo pot cures a hangover. A sense of dread quickly interrupts my new-found sense of wellbeing as I see Arvella's deadpan expression.
I look around at my friend's expressions of nervousness, then my eyes settle on Arvella, and a little bit of unease wells up within me. "Well… I'm guessing the cat is out the bag?" I ask slowly, using all my strength to keep eye contact with the woman. Damn! This lady's gaze is almost as intense as Celia's, and she doesn't even look angry yet. More like… mildly annoyed.
"Yes." She says flatly. "I would definitely say the 'cat is out of the bag'". She leans forward, and looks to me with a serious, but also curious expression. "Now that we are done playing around, tell me where you four are really from, and why are you here?" She demands. The intensity of her ocean blue eyes projects the message of 'Lie to me, and you will be sorry.'
I swallow a lump in my throat as I look to Kagura and the others, and for a brief moment, we just stare at each other, having the invisible and silent conversation of 'should we tell her?' with just our facial expressions, until they all nod for me to proceed. I look back to the woman, twiddling my thumbs and I could feel my toes curl in anxiety. "We, uh…" I say before swallowing my nerves and wetting my dry lips. "Come from, uh, Salice…" I squeak out.
Arvella sighs before her face hardens. "I said that I do not like to be lied to." One of her hands balls up into a fist, and I feel like an immense pressure is bearing down on me, making it hard to breathe.
"W-We are from…" I struggle to get out. Damn! This woman would give Celia a run for her money on the scary scale. "We are from a d-different time!" I force out.
Arvella looks unamused with my confession.
"We got sucked into a magic mirror that somehow put us 150 years in the past!" Kagura says quickly.
The woman raises a brow. "What?" She says incredulously, and the invisible pressure that is bearing down on us stops, killing the tension, causing us to take collective gasps of air. She puts her hand up to her chin and starts to think. "That's impossible, I can't believe…" She starts mumbling to herself, her words becoming too quiet to hear, and she seems to completely forget about us.
I look to Kagura and the others, who have matching confusion on their faces. I look back to Arvella. "Uh, yeah… I found this weird mirror, and uh, it kinda sucked us all in. After that, we find ourselves a couple hundred years in the past…" I explain, unsure about what this sudden shift in tone meant.
Arvella's eyes snap to me. "Do you have the mirror? May I see it!?" She quickly holds out her hand with an expectant look on her face, as if I didn't have to the option to refuse.
Well, to be honest, I could refuse if I wanted to, but from I have just experienced in the last 10 minutes, this woman is hiding her abilities. No normal person, or even low-level mages, can exude that much intimidating presence. This woman must have some monstrous magic reserves to overwhelm all four of us and not even show a magical aura. If mages want to intimidate normal people, or even lower level mages, they can just release some raw magic power around them to create what feels like an intense pressure. The air will feel thicker because of the heavier concentration of ethernano coming from the mage. Usually, a colored aura appears around the mage when they do this. If I remember correctly, I think Gildarts did this to Natsu at the S-class exam... I will have to check my notes… Anyway, for Arvella to make us feel such a pressure, means she has vast magic reserves. To make us feel the pressure without summoning a visible aura is baffling. She must be either casting an illusion to hide it, or it is a color not visible to the human eye, which is unheard of. Oddly, I can only sense a moderate amount of magic within the woman, which means she must have some godly levels of magic suppression… I will have to keep an eye on her.
I cautiously nod at the woman's request, and summon the mirror from my requip space. I hand it over, and Arvella immediately starts inspecting it for a few moments before her eyes go wide. "I can't believe it…" She says aloud, her voice filled with disbelief. She runs her fingers over the ornate engravings. "I never thought I would ever see one of these in person…"
I raise a brow. "What? See what? Do you know what this is?"
Arvella ignores my question, and continues to look over the mirror. "This mirror… It has temporal magic…" She looks to us. "Tell me, are any of you a Chronomancer?"
What? Temporal Magic? Chronomancer? What in the hell did we find!?
"W-What is that?" I hear Risley ask.
Arvella sighs. "I thought so…" She then clears her throat. "Chronomancy is the magic of time itself, and is a lost form magic, with only a few rare relics left. This mirror is a relic that I only have seen depictions of in books. In fact, I thought such a mirror was only a legend, but it turns out, I have been proven wrong." She holds up the mirror so that we could can see it better. "What you have here is a Paradox Mirror. Supposedly, it senses an anomaly in time, like a person from another time being in the wrong place, and tries to fix it. It probably sent you four here because it sensed that you were somehow supposed to be here in this time for some event or purpose. So, to try to fix the problem, it sent you here to fulfill the paradox and once you are done with whatever you supposed to do, it might send you back…"
There is a brief pause as we all digest what has been said. There is one thing that is bugging me about this information, but before I can act on my curiosity, Kagura beats me to it. "If this magic is so rare, how come you know so much about it?" She has suspicion in her voice, and her eyes are narrowed with accusation.
Arvella only smirks and lets out a light chuckle, not affected by Kagura's attempt at intimidation. "I may not look like it now, but in my younger years, I was quite the explorer." Her smirk widens. "Exploring the world, finding rare texts in ruins, learning new things, widening my mind to new things… It was a fun time." She has a look of reminiscence.
When she was younger? She looks to be in her mid to late twenties! When did she have all that time to explore the world and do all this stuff!? She does not look her age at all… Well actually, to be fair, I don't look my age and now that I think about it, most mages look younger than they appear to be. Look at Celia. She is in her forties, yet she looks barley in her thirties.
Arvella clears her throat, and her face grows serious again. "Back to the matter at hand. You four had been brought here for a reason, and we need to figure out that reason."
"For what reason could we be here for?" Araña asks.
Arvella sighs, and starts rubbing her temple. " I don't know."
"Don't know?" Risley echoes.
Arvella nods. "There is going to be an event that you four are a part of, otherwise, the mirror wouldn't have transported you here. Whether the event is major, minor, a celebration, a disaster, easy or hard, I can't tell." Arvella looks all of us in the eyes. "But I can assure you that you an event will happen."
There is a few moments of silence until. "Well, we should start figuring out what that event will be. I don't intend on staying here." Kagura declares.
I nod in agreement. "I concur… Has there been any strange events lately? Like anything unusual in town or the surrounding area?"
Arvella smirks. "Way to put me on the spot, Kid." She puts a hand up to her chin. "Hmm, being a rural village, nothing too exciting happens in Salice. Besides the occasional dispute between farmers, nothing really happens out here…" She closes her eyes to think for a few moments before opening them again. "Well, there is this one thing that has been happening lately…" Her face was unsure, her eyes showing concern.
I raise a brow. "What has been happening?" I inquire gently.
"Well, in the past few weeks, there has been a series of arsons all around the countryside." Arvella reveals slowly. "But, these are not normal arsons. The arsonist has been burning down entire villages, leaving no survivors."
For an instant, I am back in Rosemary, I feel the inferno on my skin, and the screams of people in my ear. I clench my fist, digging my nails in to my palm. Arvella continues on. "The burned down areas are also left toxic, and what I mean by toxic, I mean people who are investigating the incidents get a sickening feeling when they enter the ruins, as if the area is giving them a flu, and if they stay in the area too long, they fall deathly ill. It's as if a miasma had been left to claim more victims. Although, individuals such as yourselves might have a little more resistance to it than normal folks."
Kagura was gripping the couch cushion like a vice. "I think this Arsonist, this monster, is a mage." She forces out in suppressed anger. I look to her and I can see a dark look on her face. It seems I'm not the only one getting flashbacks. I put my hand on her shoulder and she turns her head to me, and I give her the look of 'Calm down'. After a few moments, she swiftly looks away with a "hmpf!"
I turn my attention to Arvella. "Sorry about that, we have a bad history with arsonist."
Arvella nods. "I understand, I am just as angry."
"Is there a pattern to this slaughter, or is it just random?" I lean forward, intent on knowing where I can find these bastards.
"Since we are a small village in the country side, news gets to us a little bit slowly, but since the arsons started a few months ago, there has been a hastening of the news flow. The most recent attack was one week ago, about 30 miles north of here, at the village of Aster." Arvella stands up. "There is a road that leads north that will take you there if you want to investigate." She then picks up the tea tray. "I'm going to make some more tea." She then walks to the kitchen.
I look to the others. "Well, should we investigate? This might be the event that could send us home."
Risley looks unsure. "I don't know, Rubi... If there is a mage going around burning towns, and the latest one happened over a week ago, I don't think the person would still be there. Heck, if what Arvella-san says is true, and this person is burning down towns all over the country side, then he might be targeting Salice as well, and might be on his way here."
"Yeah, what happens if as soon as we leave, this person shows up and burns the town while we're gone?" Araña says.
"If we stay here and wait for this person to show up, that means people could get in the crossfire, assuming they even come here! They could be going a completely different direction to burn another village! We should go investigate, and intercept this asshole before he kills more people!" I slam my fist on the couch arm, and a little bit of electricity sparks over my body.
"Rubi! Calm down!" Kagura commands. "While it would be wise to stay than to investigate and track down the person responsible for the fires, it would also be unwise to leave the town unguarded. Therefore, we should come up with a solution that fits the best of both worlds." She looks to Risley and Araña. "You two should stay back and make sure the town in safe. Araña, your webs could make excellent traps, assuming you have a fire-resistant web."
"Well, I have been working on a web that can withstand some flames, but if they are too hot, then they will be like paper in a bonfire." Araña nods.
"Good." Kagura then looks to Risley. "Risley, with your gravity magic, you can easily restrain anyone or at least slow them down enough to hinder them." She then looks to me. "Rubi, with our combat skills, we would be suited as an excellent strike team. I am fairly convinced we can tackle anyone short of a wizard saint if we work together. So, we should be the ones to investigate."
I nod. "Ok then, I can work with that."
"I assume you signorinas figured out a plan?" I hear the voice of Arvella from behind. I look back to see her with a full tray of tea cups. She then walks back to her chair, sets the tea on the table, and sits down. "Would you like some tea?" She says as she pours some into a cup. We then explained our plan to her, and after eating some breakfast, me and Kagura decided to head out.
All four of us are outside, at the front door. "Ok, me and Araña-chan are going to patrol the outskirts of the village, to make sure no one sneaks through the forest." Risley says with a wide smirk, and she then gives us a thumbs up. "No one is gonna get past us!"
I nod. "We will be back by late afternoon at the most. 30 miles isn't that far when you can move at our speeds." Normally, 30 miles would take a normal person several hours, but a mage, when they want to, can cross those types of distances quickly on foot . Normally, a mage will either walk normally or take some form of transportation to save energy, but when the situation requires it, a mage can really haul ass. It took us just under an hour to get close to Aster.
Kagura starts walking to the road leading to the north. "Come on, Rubi, we don't have all day!" She says over her shoulder.
I start walking after her. "See you guys later!" I wave.
As soon as we got out of Salice, we picked up the pace and started running towards Aster at breakneck speeds. As we got closer and closer, about a mile out or so, I started feeling something a little bit of the side effects that Arvella described, but I was also feeling something else, something unsettling, something that just felt wrong, something… Something… evil? It felt like and abomination that violated nature's laws. I feel my face scrunch up in disgust, and I look to Kagura. "Hey, Kagura, do you feel something… off?"
Kagura glances over. "I sense some really strong residual magic, and I have a little bit of the sicking feeling welling up within me." Her face is tense, but it also a small hint of unease is also present.
I shake my head a bit. "No, does it feel like, I, it- I don't know how to describe it. Malignant? Evil…?"
Kagura raises a brow. "I don't know if I feel that... Maybe your senses are sharper than mine, but I can say it feels like have a light cold."
We then arrive to the entrance of Aster, and what I see is something that I've only seen decades ago in a video game, in my previous life. The entire town is an ash pile finer than sand. And when I say an ash pile, a literal ash pile. No surviving structures. No charred wood. No semblance of civilization. The feelings I am sensing from far away are now intensified, and it almost makes me feel sick to my stomach. This makes the raid of Rosemary look like a campfire. Me and Kagura walk around in stunned silence, the ash collapsing and shaping beneath our feet. We then see a human form, standing in the ash, but as we get closer, we see it for what it really is. It is an ash person. The fire from who or what ever did this was so hot, it immediately turned everything to ash. A strong gust of wind blows through, and the ash person crumples and blows away in the wind.
"What... What could have done this…" I say, looking around for any clues as to where the beast that did this could have gone.
Kagura looks numb. "I never seen anything like this… For everything to be so completely incinerated… I don't think anything short of a dragon could produce flames that hot… I don't think we can fight something that can do this." She looks around, and then her eyes go wide."R-Rubi, I think we have a problem…"
"What?" There is a sinking feeling as I turn my head to where she was looking. I then see what she saw. It is a burned, ashy path through the forest, going directly south. Directly towards Salice.
"Fuck…" is all that leaves my lips before I take off towards the road back at full speed, Kagura following behind, towards Salice. We must evacuate the village before whatever creature caused the destruction of Aster got there. This isn't something that me and Kagura could fight alone.
XXX
3rd person POV, 1 hour prior
Arvella watched as the four mages walked away in groups of two, keeping a smile on her face and continued to wave until they were out of sight of her. Her expression then became grim, with a little hint of guilt, as she turned her head north, sensing the looming malevolence from the north, over 30 miles away. She sighed and looked to the gloomy overcast sky. "Sister… Should I have told them…" She reached up and clenches the crystal of her necklace. "Should I have told them I could sense the approaching evil? That I had a vague idea what might be approaching!? Should I have told them the truth!" Her other hand clenched into fist, and she shook her head. "No! Revealing my knowledge of time magic, and releasing my magic power was already too much! How could I have explained sensing something so evil, so far away!?" She looked down and closed her eyes. "I fear the time has come for me to use my power once again. I don't know if I will survive it or not." She lets out a small, depreciating laugh. "Heh, maybe I will be seeing again, Sister." She then walked towards the lake, her blue eyes flashing for a brief moment, and a faint blue aura materialized around her body. "I just hope you won't be seeing your niece and brother-in-law as well…"
Well, this chapter turned dark all of the sudden. I'm so happy to finally to be almost at the climax of this arc. I can't wait to start writing it. There is more than meets the eye when it comes to Arvella. Rubi has the ability to recover from hangovers quickly... that or the chamber pot was magical. We may never know...