Lucky Souls
Chapter 13: Loosening the Leash
The antediluvian ruined city around them loomed silently, not a soul gracing its marbled streets. The archaic metropolis had definitely not seen life for some time, but strangely, the city looked as though it were new, as if had daily upkeep most vigorous.
The slickly crafted checker-stoned grown was glossy and faultless, the structures crafted with the elegance of a master architect were just as flawless as they had been since their erection, and the clay shrines to their mighty basilisk still shown with the sheen of newness.
A perfectly preserved set piece, lost in time but still captivatingly beautiful, Miyuki couldn't contain herself as she allowed her hand to glide smoothly over the relics; her inner scholar was practically abuzz with all manner of fascination.
"Astounding, these structures have the craft of new era work, but how old must they be, thousands of years? Truly, this civilization must've been one far beyond its time." The enchanter analyzed bookishly, turning to her group with a bubbly sneer.
"That's probably no coincidence; I'd spend less time gawking about it and more time being concerned about it. In Boletaria, number one rule, when something ain't right, here comes a fight." Misao instructed to her lesser, unhinging her spear and briskly gripping it, preparing for the worst.
"Oh, you worry too much Misakichi! Don't tell me you're not just as enraptured by this place? An ancient city deep beneath the earth's crust, imagine the fortune this place holds!" Patty nonchalantly giggled, patting the worrisome slave on the back to alleviate some of her anxious behavior.
"You're calling me that as well? That better not become a nick-name or I'm gonna be really pissed!" The dreg roared at Patty, who could only snicker gently and give a thumbs-up to her senior, Izumi, who had just began to instruct her on the endless fun one may have prodding at others.
An ominous rumbling sound cut the teasing short, and feeling that same fizzling in her gut, Misao turned tail, not noticing anything entirely out of the ordinary, but she was far more attuned to such things than the average soul, she could hear what they couldn't, smell what they cannot, and these unfortunate skills kept her far more alert to danger than anyone ought to be.
"We're not alone." Misao warned, still not noticing any signs of movement, something about the deathly silent city alerted her senses to danger, but where was it?
The crisis came in the form of a low-pitched buzzing sound, humming dutifully in her ears before she was aware of it. The ground below her suddenly began to chatter violently, and before she could even move it flipped in upon itself, knocking her to the ground with a crunch.
Her voice quivered gently as she admired what had taken the square of dirt's place, a small arachnid-like automaton, wrought in steel and painted delicately with stylish markings. Upon its jittering head lay a radiating globe of energy, encased in a glass-like tube.
"What the hell?" She whispered to herself, waiting for the tiny mech to do something, attack maybe, but it offered no signs of aggression.
"Woah, what is that?" Konata jubilated without even a hint of suspicion to any danger tinged in her tone, approaching the miniscule spectacle of science and giggling as it twitched curiously at her, like a small animal.
"It appears to be some form of machine, but what powers it…?" Miyuki examined closely as she inspected the intruder, but it did naught but ignore the group, rusting gently off in an aimless direction before she could come to a conclusion on the matter.
Her lonesome test subject however, was soon replaced by another, and another, until countless legions of the little buggers skimmed to and fro among the dead city, as if out of nowhere.
Statues opened up like doors, the ground itself unearthed metal beings, bags and boxes were suddenly opened mysteriously, birthing more of the mechanical insects.
"What are they doing?" Tsukasa questioned to the sorceress, who could only quietly contemplate to herself that very same question.
"Looks like they're cleaning or something…maybe this is how the old city stays fresh?" The azure knight Konata pointed out, watching as the laborer's effortlessly wiped the grime off of the city streets, the cobwebs clinging to every dark corner, not one stone was left unturned when it came to their tireless duty.
"This is astounding, just who were these people? Architecture the likes of which even kings are unaware, technology far exceeding anything we've ever seen. Where did they get the resources? How were they able to accomplish this?" The bubbly mage continued to gush, feeling her brain fizzle to its limits as she admired the ancient civilization, long since extinct, yet still so full of life.
Feeling a gentle tug on her rustling pant leg, Patty looked downward to see one of the bantam bots prodding at her exposed flesh through a careless hole, and she couldn't help but smile as she watched it work. As if from nowhere, several compartments were opened like dresser drawers on its hull, unsheathing a needle and string.
Without pause, the mech tailored the niggling hole up post haste, before moving on to the girls ratty and walk-weary shoes.
"Guys look; these little guys do a lot more than clean!" Patty enthusiastically hummed as she reached down to pet the miniature mech, only for it to bob with alarm at the girls touch, skating away with the erratic movement of an insect.
"These aren't demon-make; these are the creation of men." Misao noted as observed the machines labor devoutly to their long dead masters, noticing a golden crest chiseled on the hulls of the synthetic arthropods.
The gleaming emblem that shown upon the mechanical workers surface nearly caused the perceptive slave to lose her cool; it was the royal symbol that plastered their metal bodies, King Allant's embroidery.
"There's no friggin' way..." She whispered to herself, shakily watching as her companions frivolously played with the beasts without a care in the world. "Guys, I think we've overstayed out welcome, we should really be going." Misao warned cautiously once more, earning only a sputter of laughter from the girls as they poked and prodded at the wonders of science.
"Why? We're in no rush, are we? Besides, I'd love to figure out just what makes these things tick." Miyuki gently protested as she wrapped her arms around one of the squirming little mechs, embracing it lightly in her arms and lifting it to her face with bewilderment gleaming in her eyes.
"Look, something about these things ain't…natural, just trust me, alright? I really think we should be going." The slave warned one final time, but her exhortations would go unheeded as the steel arachnid in Miyuki's arms suddenly latched itself upon her face with an earth-shattering cry, which was only outshined by the mage's own frightened wail.
Grasping roughly onto the antagonizing machine on her person, Miyuki forcefully ripped the clingy bug away, tossing it mercilessly to the ground with a crash and a thud, which alerted nearly every other member of the swarm that consumed the dead city.
"What did I tell you?" Misao mumbled under her breath as she crushed her spear into the squirming monstrosity on the ground, turning her attention to the now converging horde all around them. "These ain't worker bees; they're Allants little soul suckers. Just where d'ya think this cities people've gone? That bastards hunger never ceases to amaze…" Misao gritted almost in a hurt fashion, tightening her grip around her spear and tipping it at the approaching menace.
"We can't take them all, can we?" Konata asked with a nervous laugh as she unsheathed her blade, to which the slave could only tiredly shrug her shoulders.
"Oh most definitely not, but why fight when you can flight?" The slave questioned to her companion as she surveyed her surroundings, which shown naught but lakes of lava and the decrepit ruins that filled the expanse around them dauntingly like a prison.
With the untrained, frightened group of girls at her back, and the legion of mechanized monsters at her front, Misao couldn't help but feel like she was caught up in a cause that didn't concern her, what her ever the wise master saw in these fools, she couldn't know, but it was not her place to know, it was her place to fetch.
"Ah, well, I hate to do this gang, but I think this is where we part ways." Misao cheerfully revealed to the group with a goofy grin, not even a whiff of malice laden behind her words.
"Excuse me?" Kagami questioned with a tone not unlike any she held when Konata pestered her so, to which the slave could only offer a gentle heave of her shoulders.
"You're excused, and as am I, later!" The servant huffed as she jetted herself upwards into the air with inhuman agility and speed, catapulting her petite frame nearly thirty feet skyward, gracefully floating over the rabid band of machines below her and plopping delicately upon a perfectly carved roof of an adjacent building.
"Where the hell is she going?" Kagami asked almost frightened to hear the answer as she turned to her companions, whose faces offered little reassurance. "That coward…you little coward!" Kagami fumed angrily, gripping her sword and swinging it in a fury at the approaching machines, slicing some of them clear down the middle, ridding their synthesized bodies of a black and pasty substance.
Konata could do naught but ignore her tsundere's rage as she focused her concentration on the upcoming opponents, who briskly leapt into the air like grasshoppers, their spring-like legs heaving them gently upwards at the defending group.
Her swinging blade tore through the soaring bugs with finesse, cleaving them to pieces and sending the litter fluttering in every direction. She could do nothing but steadily breathe as she assessed the sheer number of them, which counted well in the thousands.
With every one she cut down, two more took its place, they seemed almost as one being as she looked upon their horde, a metal sea beaming a bright burnt orange all around them, their sparkling head-cases crackling furiously with a sound not unlike an open flame humming in the girls ears as they fought valiantly against the legion.
"Miyuki, don't suppose you've got any spells tucked away for just such an occasion?" Konata asked hopefully, her wily grin melting into a stern grimace at the face her bubbly friend gave her. "That's what I was afraid of…" She cheeked shamelessly, hacking another few of the monsters down as she breathed tirelessly, the heat of the magma around them was really starting to get to her, it sapped her energy in a way akin to the colorless fog.
"Just curious, did she actually leave us to die? Did I really see that?" Kagami mocked hopelessly as she wrote a story of blood with her blade, to which her gentle sister could only effortlessly shrug.
"Seems that way, onee-chan." Tsukasa downwardly scoffed, turning her attention to an approaching abomination and clenching her eyes shut with shame as she cleanly cracked it in two with her blade, feeling a swath of guilt riddle her heart as she did so. While not technically alive, she found it hard to harm even these creatures, after all, they were made by man, as was she. In this way, she saw them both as children of men, and to cause detriment to any was a sin she herself could not tolerate, but Boletaria is full of sin, and following a code of pacifism in a land of sin wasn't applicable.
"Forget her! What about us? We can't stay here and fend these things off forever!" The archer Patty interjected with a whistle from her bow as she unleashed an arrow into her target, which nearly exploded from the piercing crush of her arrow.
"Well we could, I mean-oh forget it, even I don't think I can crack wise right now!" Konata laughed to herself more than anyone, feeling her blade leave her hands as it stuck itself into the twinkling brain of one of the spiders, which was then slowly consumed by the endless sea of mechs around them.
Turning tail, the azure knight beheld one of the mighty statues of the Dragon God, now painted brutally with the onyx essence that jetted from the dead hulls of the arachnids, and she knew they had no choice but to climb.
"Higher ground, we have to get to…climb the statue!" Konata breathed out incoherently as she instructed her companions to obey the order, and none did protest, nor could they if they wanted to.
The scrambling group steadily heaved themselves upwards onto the granite behemoth, holding onto its mighty form helplessly and looking downward with dread as the machines swarmed around the base of the statue with fervor, clinking and clanking their way ever higher, it would not be long until they rid the metropolis bereft of life of its final visitors.
Usually so quick to act in these tense situations, the azure knight Konata found that she was at a loss as she examined any possible means of escape, and while they would eventually tire, she knew the mechanized little demons would not, and sitting there and biding their time would do no good.
Glancing into the eyes of her dear Kagamin, who dreamily swooned back at her with helplessness, Konata knew she could not give in, not now, surely there was something she could do.
The horrified howling of her friends did nothing to calm her nerves however, and certainly did nothing to nourish her mind with any bright ideas.
The cold metal grip of one of the spiders suddenly made its presence known upon her leg, and looking downward, soon both of her dangling limbs were held captive by the belligerent little oddities, and with a surprisingly powerful show of strength for the miniscule beasts, Konata was ripped forcefully from her roosted position on the memorial and sent toppling downward to the musty ground with a harsh roll, feeling nothing but the steely metal slice its way into her tender flesh as she was swarmed by the horde.
Out of her foggy vision, she could see her brave companions yanked downward into the swarm one by one until the statue laid bare, but she didn't have time for any afterthoughts, her consciousness was fading slowly but surely, she could only pray for some quite unlikely miracle to be their liberator.
But something seemed so unnatural about the state she found herself captive within, it felt groggy, stiff, there was no gentle hold of rest about it, it felt forced. Her chest twanged with a gentle pain, and turning to the cause, a needle buried deep beneath her flesh, protruding from the exposed hull of the spider. Could it have been a toxin, slowly molding itself within her flowing veins?
The thought passed from her fizzling brain as she felt a tightness about her form. She could've sworn it felt almost thread-like, warm and sticky, enveloping her as she allowed the crushing darkness of slumber to take her.
"I step out for one second and you guys get killed by spiders…that's great, just fantastic. If you're really dead in there I'm gonna be pissed, not to mention out of a job, so look lively eh?" A far-off voice bellyached to seemingly no one in particular, but as Konata slowly rose to the sound of that badgering little wail, she couldn't help but recall it as familiar.
A sound not unlike the shredding of sheets followed up the annoying moaning of the bodiless voice, and as the bluenette's hearing returned, so too did her vision, which in her direct line of view, shown nothing but shadowed darkness.
A thin stream of light pierced her body from the ebony expanse, which soon beat violently against her chest in a thick column, piercing her sleep-weary eyes with its brilliant gaze.
The assailing light was dampened with the presence of an intruder, who's dimly hazel eyes twinkled with bliss as she beheld her dozing companion, strangely enough safe from harm.
"Oh good, you're still breathing at least. How about a smile for auntie Misao to see if them nasty old toxins have worn off." The voice revealed to be Misao gently commanded, only to earn a sloppy looking half-smile that could've passed for a frown, or maybe her nose just itched really badly, the slave couldn't really discern too well in the shadowed light within the silky cocoon the knight found herself enclosed within.
"Whazzat…? Is it Christmas?" The droopy voice of the still dreamy Konata gently questioned as she slowly but sure came to what little sense she could muster.
Slicing the remaining twanging wires of thread that roughly pulled against the azure knight's flesh, Misao's face contorted wryly as her sedated companion tumbled graceless out of the perfectly sewn pod and onto the dusty earth, gently rubbing the bridge of her nose at the spectacle with shameless awe.
"Yeah, well, I 'spose that'll have to do for now. Come on champ, up and at 'em." The abraded servant commanded to the captive she had let loose from her silken prison, heaving the heap of a girl up onto her wobbling feet and steadying her with a tight arm around the shorter girls shoulder.
"What did you get me? Oh, is it my dad? Man, I wouldn't mind him coming home for Christmas…" Konata drowsily asked with a sudden burst of giggles, erasing any coherence from her voice, and only adding more effort onto Misao's shoulders to keep the bumbling mess of a girl vertical.
"I'm sure the two of you'll be roasting chestnuts over an open fire before you know it, but until then, what's say we make with the being hasty and get out of here, alright?" The slave brazenly joked as she cringed at the lump which formed steadily in her throat, this definitely was not good.
Her orders were very simple, clear-cut, and seemingly infallible, surely there was no way she could muck up such a curiously easy assignment so graciously bestowed upon her by her master. When you spend as much time being yanked around on a leash such as the thoughtful slave however, you come to realize mindlessly following orders to a queue can get rather arduous.
As she quivered almost girlishly at the gluey sacs of helpless victims all around her, she couldn't help but clench her sweaty palms firmly at her poor run of bad luck. After all, what were the odds she'd come face to face with quite literally the only fiend that walked the face of their vast planet to cause her skin to crawl.
"Spiders…why did it have to be spiders!" Misao moaned immaturely, hoisting the constantly drooping carry-on as she hoarsely chuckled and mumbled about some unseen colors that would make the known color spectrum jealous, likely a curious side effect from the arachnid toxin that flowed intrusively in the azure knight's veins.
"You got me spiders for Christmas? Okay the bit's over, I'm so pulling your leg now, I'm not really as think as you poisoned I am…I just need a little nap." The now mentally sparse Konata cooed as her ability to walk failed her, declining vertically in her toxin-induced trance and roughly dragging the supporting slave with her.
"No you idiot, and ya can't sleep when you're poisoned! Or is that head injuries? Regardless, the more time you lay around snoozing, the more likely your friends are to get shredded to chum by those little mechanized bastards!" The slave nonchalantly warned, knowing her dispirited protests would do no good when the only reaction Konata offered to her friends' imminent doom was a cackle of croaky snickers.
"Yuck, not a fan of seafood, gives me the squirts…" Konata whispered dryly as she dazed in and out of the murky slumber that clenched profusely at her twitching eyeballs, she could barely discern where she was at that moment, and even less knowledgeable was who she spoke with, but everything at that moment seemed so awesome she had damn near forgotten any woes that darkened her mind anyway.
"How have you even survived this long chibikko?" Misao griped with a tinge of genuine interest, the haughty little fool of a girl certainly didn't seem to be the type who could have such survival skills, maybe it was just dumb luck she mused,. She couldn't help but laugh at herself when she noticed her dirtied hands were scrubbing the syrupy, spider-pasted scalp of the girl for some measure of good luck, maybe it rubbed off, but the very notion could only bring about a sigh from deep within the weary slave, for she knew she could certainly use it.
The dreg's ear couldn't help but twang unpleasantly at the spiteful cry of another ringing in her ears; she could not contain the weariness she felt as she sought out its commander, which was easy, as she noticed the fumbling and squiggling cocoon above her head.
"Yeah, shut up, I hear ya." Misao grumbled with an adroit twirl of her mighty spear, severing the hovering tomb from its sticky tendrils and collapsing it onto the squishy floor, accompanied by the gruff groans of its prisoner.
Carving her way down the center of the silken encasement with the prowess of a surgeon, and tearing aside the interior walls, Misao hummed lightly as her eyes met the orbs of the girl inside, and could do nothing but clench her eyes harshly as a jagged swipe crunched into face without warning.
"You smarmy little backstabber!" The bloodthirsty voice echoed, ridding its bearer of her silken shell and revealing the begetter to be the older of the Hiiragi twins, a flaming curl of aggression within her usually reposing gaze.
"Probably had that coming." The slave breathed composedly, wiping the gentle leak of blood that trickled down her lip, only for the wound to wretch achingly outward with another fierce clock to her curved cheek.
"You had that coming too, and there's more where that came from!" Kagami erupted violently, collapsing herself upon her victim and readying another haymaker, which planted itself straight into the girls heaving throat, bringing about exasperated gasps for air and the hacking of clumped saliva from her twitching throat.
"Oh c-c-come on, be reasonable, ain'tcha at least gonna give me a chance to explain myself?" Misao cooed hopefully, roughly squirming her grappled wrists held in place by the assailing warrior.
"And just how would you explain leaving us to die? Ya got a good reason for that, huh? Do ya? I don't think you can justify that, not no way, not no how." Kagami asked croakily, her shaking demeanor easing her punching bag's mind a little. This girl had never taken a life before, and her exposed rage gave no hints of the gentle soul inside, there was no menace in her eyes, only pain.
"Look, I know I was pretty textbook cowardly back there but…ya gotta understand. We all got fears, yeah? Well, mine just happens to be those spindly little shit's what gave us a hard time. I can't explain it, just never liked spiders…something about being trapped, hanging by strings, oiled up and secured in that leathery rope…" Misao began somewhat genuinely, a hard lump seated complacently in her humming throat. "Ain't no one like to be tied up on a leash…held in place, no way to save yourself. It's just never been my thing, if I ain't in control I just kinda freeze up. No other reason I swear it, I was jobbed with protecting you folks, and I mean to." She finished bravely, molding her glare to be as stony as could be; she had to have that serious air about her.
Silently coming down from her burst of acrimony, Kagami searched the hazel eyes of her companion for any doubt, but she could sense nothing but absolute truth in her core.
Releasing her firm grip and freeing the servant, the tsundere stood to catch her breath, wiping a pesky line of saliva that had slipped down her chin in the mindless anger, and offering her open palm to the beaten girl at her feet.
Allowing herself to be anchored upwards, Misao smiled haughtily as she smeared the crimson streaks of liquid that messily poured from her lip, thanking the gods above the fiery warrior's anger had been stayed.
The gritting marks of flushed skin upon her wrists stung mightily, what inhuman strength this girl possessed the slave mused, were it her choice she could've easily severed her tanned arms from her very body with a hauling grip. Misao couldn't help but feel uneasy when she noticed the golden center of Kagami's lavender eyes; did she even know what ailed her?
A sudden series of gasps and frantic coughs broke her train of thought, the internal spasms resonating from the heap of blue hair that painted the ground around them. The two leaned down gently by their half-conscious companion, Kagami's flustered expression melting into one of horror at the sight of her dear friend.
"My god…wh-what happened to her?" She asked her guide, steadying the bluenette's sweat-caked head affectionately in her arms, caressing the girls' forehead and pulling away at the harsh burning sensation she felt.
"Poisoned, one of them managed to stick her." Misao whispered, helplessly leaning down to the sickly woman's pulsating chest and pressing an ear firmly to it. "Heartbeat is faint, oh man, that shit's really made its way through her body." She downwardly assessed, nearly feeling the hum of panic radiating from the lilac knight.
"Well I…what do we do? I-Is there an antidote or…? How do we help her?" Kagami questioned as she patted her corrupted friends face in a futile effort to keep her semi-conscious, but the incoherent babbling gurgling from her throat did nothing to ease her worry.
"I don't know. In all my days I've spent in this hellhole I never once dared to come in here, hate spiders remember?" Misao chuckled unnervingly, lifting the encompassing shirt over the otaku's head in an effort to locate the wound, which made itself known in the presence of a puffy and infected looking lump on the girls' collarbone.
"Oh my god." The lilac knight whispered, running her hands coolly over the throbbing protrusion, feeling the gluey toxins seeping from the bloody burrows the mechanical fangs scarred upon the bluenette's opaque bosom.
"Yeah, god oh my…that certainly doesn't look good." Misao noted rather obviously, only now realizing just how deep the wound really was, and even worse, where it was. The bitty breaches in her skin lay directly above her heart, the toothy chomp had collapsed directly through her rib cage, it wouldn't surprise her if it pierced her ticker either.
"Well, what do we do dammit? We can't just sit here and gawk, we need to do something!" Kagami furiously ordered, gliding her heated palms over the slumbering girls beaded chest, her breathing was slowing down, her struggling lungs seemed to be pushing themselves to the limit in an effort to get more oxygen.
Tapping her friend's face harshly, Kagami sighed with relief when a lazy emerald ogle met her lumbering form, a cheeky smile drawing itself upon its bearer.
"Hey there Kagamin…" Sleepily the call hummed, a quivering hand resting itself upon the blushed cheek of the shadow that levitated above her warmly.
"Hey sleepyhead…you uh…well, we think you might've gotten poisoned." Kagami urgently explained, yet with a sense of care to it, which all but erased itself when a painful breath tore itself from Konata's agitated throat.
"That's great…I was wondering what that tickly feeling in my tummy was… thought maybe I had indigestion. But hey, you uh, you haven't seen my dad have you? I can't seem to find him anywhere, where did he go?" The gentle buzz of the envenomed soul enquired confusedly, feeling as if each word that slipped from her lips grew heavier, more difficult to utter.
"Yeah that'd be shock. Alright sunshine no more fooling around, we need to do something about this little illness that's taken a fancy to your insides, alright?" Misao hurriedly adjured, wasting no time in ridding her pocket of a gleaming knife and pressing it sharply into her patient without warning, the cringing cry that resulted sending shivers throughout her body.
"What are you doing?" The hysteric tone in her voice could not be shielded as Kagami asked the slave of her intentions, cupping her mouth in displeasure as Konata's wound was pried open roughly, revealing all manner of muscle and sinew held delicately in her inner framework.
"No choice, she's got one foot in the grave, that toxin is coming out the hard way." Misao loftily announced, burying her lips directly over the exposed flesh and sucking vigorously, leaning upwards to spill a thick and mucus-like substance from her mouth, feeling her pink muscle within numb like ice.
"But the poison has probably spread by now…" Kagami whispered in disbelief as Misao continued to absorb more and more seemingly lethal globs of blight, belching the slimy fluid onto the ground in heaps, feeling her body grow lighter with each discharge of poison from her lips.
"Probably, but I can't have you sods dyin' on me now...I-I…I have a reputation to uphold." Bilious and gentle was her tone as Misao leaned down to inhale another flush of acid into her system, it was a very powerful toxin indeed, she could feel her own breathing stiffen as its sour flavor seeped into her taste buds.
Watching as the fruits of her companion's labor went to waste, huffing glob after glob of the pasty liquid from Konata's infected veins, the thoughtful tsundere couldn't help but wonder. Her own existence as a mere mortal was in question as a result of recent events, and while she whispered a word of it to no one, it had been weeks since she felt the steady beat of her aching heart.
When she was cut she did not bleed, her saliva no longer profusely clung to her mouth, she was beginning to wonder whether or not she was even alive anymore. But per chance, this may've been exactly what was needed at that moment.
Brushing the dizzy slave aside, Kagami held up a hand in protest at the girl's accusations, if she kept her little operation going, the poison would kill her as surely as it was killing her dear friend, and she sure didn't want to have to attempt this twice.
"You owe me so hard for this." Kagami gently giggled, baring her canines and leaning down with a vehemently heated face, she couldn't recall ever being this close to Konata, not ever, not face to face anyhow.
Clamping her dry lips hard onto the bluenette's bruised collar, Kagami calmly sipped the leaky juices from the wound, and unlike the drudge, she felt no twang of ache consume her, in fact, she didn't feel anything at all.
Batch by batch of the toxin was stirred from the sleeping girls veins without pause, the lilac knight didn't even waste any time spitting the harmful liquid out, she downed it like hard liquor, fast and without feeling. She knew the deadly blight could do nothing to her already wretched and contaminated insides, hell maybe they'd even act as a deterrent, but she could only scoff at the mere idea of her luck being anything more than non-existent.
She knelt in this position for what seemed like nearly five minutes, silent, without sheen in her listless eyes as she wearily undertook the task of venom-sucker, how Konata would mock her mercilessly for this were the girl awake, she could only pray the little troublemaker would be none the wiser.
The entire ground around them was covered in a sickly and discolored plaster, and Kagami knew she couldn't really remove every ounce of toxin that clouded her friends body, removing the ailment from the direct vicinity of her hammering heart would have to be enough until they could get her proper medical attention.
Turning to her shocked onlooker, Kagami found that Misao's face was contorted into one of sheer fright; her pupils were dilated beyond belief, her oscillating mouth agape with awe.
What consumed her body was all but apparent now the servant noticed, the lilac knight's alluring purple eyes were now a crispy aurous hue, cloudy and dead looking, what she had suspected was now confirmed.
"You're not human, are you?" The question came without expression nor tone, it was heavy in its words, but held almost no weight to it, as if Misao was asking a question she already knew the answer to. Catechizing her ally on such a matter seemed ironic to one such as the slave though, how human was a pup on a leash such as her?
While it would have weeks ago, the inquiry did not stitch her insides, she had accepted her fate with little denial of what her end would be, which wouldn't be long in her current state. What better way to spend your final days than with those you love most? This is what she figured, when Kagami agreed to the asinine request her beloved best friend presented to her, a suicide quest for a more than likely deceased individual.
"I was. But now I…" Was all Kagami could manage to mutter before she felt the dusty cringe of her tear ducts, so desperately attempting to cry, to release the inner turmoil without shame, but it seemed her illness wouldn't even allow her such a simple courtesy.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that looks like Dreg-disease. You got hit by one, did you?" Misao asked as she motioned towards the girl, tenderly clasping an open palm to the pseudo-dregling's shoulder, it was icy to the touch.
"Yes." She muttered under her breath at the question, loosening her pant leg to reveal the infected and pulsating scar of the shambling demon that had struck her, the mark oozed with puss and other disgusting juices, and while no expert on the subject, Misao knew she was far along in the process, it wouldn't be long until the woman before her was just a mindless, soul-devouring beast like the rest of Boletaria.
Cautiously gripping her spear, Misao was ashamed she even ushered in such thoughts of self defense against her compatriot, she was still of able mind and body, affliction or no, such behavior was unbecoming of a guardian such as herself. Yet she could not contain her anguish, how many citizens of Boletaria had been riddled inside out with the disease and joined the legions of gruesome and barbaric husks that roamed the darkest corners?
It would be a courtesy she figured, if she just cut down her ally right here and now despite her superior's orders, but she found she could not, the will to take lives within her wasn't as strong as she'd of liked it to be, her soft spot got her in trouble more times than she could count.
"Please don't tell the others, I don't want them to worry. And…besides, your friend Kuroi, she told me there's a cure." Kagami hopefully noted, shamefully hiding her clawed fingers behind her back and curling them within one another gingerly.
"Cure? I ain't never heard of a cure, but if Nanako-Chan says it's true, it probably is. And hate to break it to ya darling, but the gang's gonna notice your beaming lookers there." Misao pointed out with a chuckle, trying to alleviate the heavy mood that clung to the air as much as she was able.
"Lookers?" Kagami questioned to herself, unsheathing her blade and analyzing her obscured appearance within its reflection. Her sharp gaze penetrated the steel with a yellow as flush as any sunflower, her nails were filed to an almost razor-edge, as were her teeth, the skin around her eyes had a light bruised coloration to it akin to a raccoon.
Had she not noticed these subtle yet frightening changes in her appearance, and by the gods how had her friends been ignorant to them? Haven't cut your nails in awhile, Konata had joked to her, you look like you need more sleep, the bluenette had advised. Passing small talk was all she had taken it for, but it seemed her friends' rude comments were far more real than she had realized.
Bitterly she stared down at her slumbering friend, how she wished she could blame her even partially for what had consumed her, how she wished to damn the girl to every hell in the book, but she did not feel anger as she gazed upon the girl, she felt only grief.
Konata had not forced her to accompany her that day, she had not forced her to follow her to Boletaria, these dilemmas were the constructs of her own foolish behavior, of the admiration she felt for the devil she considered a friend.
She had nobody to blame but herself, but the very idea of admonishing herself for her affections put a foul wrench in her gut, destiny or chance were the only things she could chalk it up to, blaming a metaphysical and likely non-existent force of nature was the only thing she felt right accusing.
Caressing the dozing otaku's pink oily cheek, Kagami couldn't help but smile. If she in the same situation, the same circumstances, the same damned kingdom that attempted to claim her life at every turn, and the same carping illness that dominated her, she wouldn't have even spared a second glance to the idea of doing it any differently.
Sighing lazily as she scratched her head awkwardly at the tender scene, Misao couldn't help it when she let out an acrid grumble of displeasure, knowing that every second with the two sickly girls charred their lit fuses a bit shorter.
"Sorry, you're right. The others are probably in danger, what am I thinking?" Kagami clumsily articulated, boosting her somnolent friend into her arms and cradling her loose neck against her chest, switching her gaze to the endless series of tunnels around them, this hive was a regular labyrinth.
"About time you wrapped that up, because it looks like we've got company anyway." Stern was Misao's voice as she gripped the length of her pole arm securely, pronging it at the dancing shadows that daubed the web-laden stone walls.
Numerous in their hasty migration, a legion of the noisy little metal bugs suddenly emerged from every cavity in the cocoon-pimpled cavern, swarming themselves downward and past the group of intruders altogether.
"The hell…? On your toes, ya hear? I don't like it when my enemies ignore me, usually means something worse." Misao ordered expertly, cautiously motioning the lilac knight to tail her naught but an inch behind, following the endless crew of insects seemed to be their best bet, keeping an eye on the enemy was always a good idea, and even better, the mechanized menaces could lead them to the others.
Grouping themselves in amongst the bundles of spindly demons, Misao couldn't help but shiver as the algid legs of the creatures pressed softly upon her shoeless feet. Synthetic or not, a spider was a spider to her, the lanky vermin were all the same.
The constant flowing stream of bugs led their stalkers to an expansive and open chamber, enormous in size, dwarfing the ancient city of the mines in comparison by a large margin.
The ashen walls were burdened by the clingy webs of the laboring beasts, speckled here and there with clumps of perfectly sewn cocoons, each likely containing some poor soul who fell into their clutches.
All signs of where the herd was going pointed ever downward to the cushiony ground congested by breaches and gaps, leading ever deeper into the crust of the archaic city.
What took the two travelers aback most was what lay beneath the bleached thread, buildings crafted not unlike those seen in the abandoned metropolis, mightily crafted with stone pillars. Idols to their god of dragons still present within the snow-white streets, but entangled by the web like everything else.
It wasn't just architecture or sculptures either, faceless embodiments vaguely resembling humans stood motionless in their final moments, as if they died doing whatever it was they had been achieving just then, frozen in time and bandaged in the clammy fabric.
A mass grave and an eternal tomb was what lay beneath the ever-growing hive, what had undone this ancient race was becoming alarmingly clear. Even worse was the thought of how or why it had happened, these creations were seemingly composed by the hands of man, so why did they bite the hand that fed them, that had given them the greatest of all gifts, life?
"Where are they all going?" Kagami sounded from the silence, earning only an ambiguous noise that could've passed for a cough or a grumble.
"Same place we are unfortunately. Before I came to save you and the wonder kid there, I saw these soul-suckers take the rest of the crew downstairs. I don't know why, but we really don't have time to question it, we move, now." Misao commanded with an odd seriousness, leading the march down the vertically-challenged frosted dip before them, the massive crater than had held a thriving civilization.
The incoherent babble that escaped Konata's lips provided some comfort to Kagami as she trekked downward into the abyss of the departed dell, she could only pray the steadily weakening soul could hold on but a short while longer, she hoped that was all it would take anyway.
Her own internal clock was ticking down to doomsday as well she figured, today, tomorrow, a week from now, it wouldn't matter. She'd be a moaning husk like the rest of Boletaria if she didn't expend a dash more urgency in her efforts, and what good would saving herself be if she couldn't even save those she cared for?
Lucid minds made for decisive and tactful decisions, and she could let her mind wander to the irrelevant no more, the task at hand was all that mattered, the docile breath from the azure knight that beat at her neck was all that mattered; salvaging any hope of saving Boletaria from its fate was all that mattered.
From afar, the girls were oblivious to a watchful overseer of their actions, a steady eye that followed each bend of their knees, each waver of their eyes. This gaze singled out the leader of the three in particular, the beaten, tanned girl who so readily would give her life for those she swore to protect.
The witch was not entirely heartless, and while her actions concerning her bonded servant were swift and without mercy, she couldn't allow failure in this mission of dire importance.
An unseen hand to offer them comfort, a map to guide them, the hilt for their blades, she would be all of these things without their knowing.
After all, how could she consider herself an admirable master if she didn't loosen the leash now and again?
Author's Note: Delicious fluff, wish I could've added more but this stupid chapter really gave me some writer's block. Wanna know why it took a week and a half to update? I re-wrote this chapter numerous times that's why, not liking any of the drafts and not even being satisfied with this final one. If the episode seems without point, and a little aimless, this is on purpose, consider it a part one to a part two. The pacing of the story is going to change from here on out, I simply cannot keep up with every chapter having the girls fight some cankerous demon, can I? Plus admittedly I wanted to wrap up this "Dragon God Arc" as fast as possible to move onto the next, so I can introduce a character I've been waiting to do since the beginning of this damn tale. And yes, it's one of the girls. Keep up your awesome reviews and hits and I'll keep shoveling out chapters to this crappy story, deal? Alright, cool. Hasta la bye bye!