Lucky Souls
Chapter 19: The Pact
There is no deterrent to hate, it festers and broods until a climax is reached, willingly or otherwise. For most, the word hate is too strong to describe the sheer and absolute dislike of somebody, or something. Although for those who willingly channel their hatred into a raw energy, they find that with these seething emotions, they can transfer all of the excess energy towards the architect of their pain relentlessly.
For the lonely Patricia Martin, sole survivor of the Yoshimizu disaster, her power filled her directly because of her hate. She had been patient, six long years of waiting for the moment she would meet those who took everything from her. What would she say to them, how would she feel when she met their hollow gazes? She had expected a plethora of things, a thousand scenarios flashing throughout the years.
At first she tried to move on, but such things rarely work. Placing such overbearing thoughts into her subconscious wasn't what she wished, she didn't want to forget. The smell of the bodies frothing with settling flames, the ash that burned her innocent eyes, the anguished cries of those being cut down by their assailants.
She memorized each detail, she wouldn't allow herself to forget a single seemingly negligent detail about that day. Obsession led to seclusion, isolation quickly led to madness. The markswoman slowly lost herself more and more, day by day she forgot even the simplest things about herself, what her favorite foods were, what she enjoyed doing for fun, the only thing that remained was seeking out that sword, the sword of the Dragon God, the only scrap of memory she could retain within her shattered mind.
The blade was now in her grasp, its unholy power answered to her and nobody else, and she would use the forgotten tool to exact the revenge she had waited so long for, the only aspiration she still clung dearly to.
The goliath sword swung downwards heftily, effectively missing the mage Miyuki Takara. In the archer's grief, she had forgotten how to aim, she rectified her failure with another swing, and another, until a frenzy of tactless slashes flew in every direction, Miyuki easily sidestepped them, they held no strategy, belligerent and numerous only.
"Patricia, please! Listen to me!" The frightened mage called out, hoping that some shred of friendship remained between the two childhood acquaintances, their friendship was not measured by longevity, having only known one another a single day, but Miyuki remembered, she finally recalled after all this time her first true friend.
"No more talking, please!" Patty cried, holding back more bubbling tears as she clenched her blade pitifully. "Every time I hear your voice…all I can think of is our lucky star, our dreams…" She whispered, weakly holding a palm to her throbbing bosom and heaving a wretched sob. "Your dream came true, you're a great mage just like you wanted, a magician your mother could be proud of…but what about me? I didn't accomplish my dream…I didn't become a great adventurer! I lost everything…and it's all your fault!" Patty erupted, raising her magical sword once more in an attempt to end all that vexed her, but an interrupting hand grasped her wrist, stayed her anger.
"Patty-Chan, stop this!" Konata scolded as she wrestled to maintain control of the ballistic woman. "This isn't the way, you don't even know why it happened! You need to calm down!" A vicious thrashing squirmed from Patricia's form at the azure knight's suggestion, snarling teeth and bloodshot eyes, the woman was lost in such a tantrum she didn't even resemble herself, she was an entirely different person.
"I don't need to know why it happened! She killed my family, she killed innocent people for no reason! Why the heck would I need to know why she did it! What's done is done, and she has to pay for it!" Patty reaffirmed, losing her hostile stance with the sudden arrival of a destructive earthquake.
The shadowed temples around them bucked and slanted, collapsing delicately under the stress of the convulsions. Another intruder, a distraction for the meddlesome crusaders, a blockade to the groups blockade, and it came in the behemoth form of a great beast of the sky.
It was none other than Konata's target, the Storm Beast, ruler of the heavens above and ancient monstrosity of the shadowed mountain peaks. The goliath demon ruled her majesty peacefully, never once assaulting the temple or those that lay within, it was renowned as a gentle giant near and far, gracing the skies with its beauty, a living piece of the angelic backdrop of the mountains.
It's size was insurmountable, its inane wingspan had to measure at least a mile long or more. The giant manta-ray flippers flapped lazily, how the enormous creature maintained flight was completely unknowable, but it did so likely with the help of some unnatural aid.
It resembled its brethren, its spawn, very sharply. The body palette of a manta ray of the oceans, albeit maximized to the fullest, covered in spiny tendrils of clingy hairs and lathered in the scaly skin of a reptile, and the pinkish tale of a rodent. The beast's black holes of eyes listlessly brooded half-lidded, as if seemingly awry about some unseen force, it was almost a saddening sight.
Clung to the massive underbelly of the demon was its kin, numbered in the thousands, desperately clinging to their parent for transportation, or perhaps sustenance and safety, it was more likely than not all three.
"The Storm Beast." The sixth saint Yutaka breathed, drearily cupping her knight's shoulder in silent prayer at the mythical monster's arrival, she could sense its pain, the miasma of the Old One seeping callously to the creature's bones, riddling it with the evils of the world ignorant to its humble plight. It did not wish to be a generator of chaos, a soulless puppet, and yet the beast's mind was steadily warped to the point of capricious insanity.
The emotional display below the demon did nothing to dissuade its progress, it saw nothing more than moving targets to be processed for elimination. It heaved back in a developing stance, curling its spine exponentially until its monumental skull arched, and from the gullet of the beast tore a sparkling fury of lightning, cracking against the ground in a devastating fume of calamitous fire that melted all.
The bolts of electricity fell like rain, scorching the ground with their fiery musk and carving the ground to their chaos infused artistry, splitting the lands apart and separating the adventurer's from one another as the earth shook apart hastily.
Miyuki ushered in a magical chant, attempting in vain to silence the crushing noise all around her, no matter how hard she tried she could not find the inner peace required for assistance. She turned to the bluenette and archer at her back, watching in horror as they slipped uncontrollably from their stances and tumbled down the slanted land.
She reached out for them, gripping the two's hands just in time and valiantly struggling to keep them both in her grasp. Her palms beget sweat, and without warning the two flew from her oily hands and fell into the darkness of the crevice, she didn't even think about what she was doing when the mage wordlessly hurled herself into the chasm after them, she prayed her other allies would be safe.
The Storm Beast tore the temples asunder with its might, soaring away into the sky when no signs of life or movement painted flickering shadows underneath the intense flames, all was quiet. With a victorious roar somewhat akin by ear to a bellowing whale of the sea, the manta flew eagerly into the fluffy expanse of clouds below it, vanishing into the obscured temples of the mountains and shielding its sinned existence from the world yet again.
The falling sorceress' form was suddenly engulfed in a radiance of fire as she tumbled helplessly, but knowingly she knew what would come next. Her quaking palms gripped her friends, and she squeezed them affectionately, allowing the masses of cold flames to consume their forms as well, they would not be harmed however. The fire was special, it was a spell of the soul and consumed a raw amount of inhuman energy, vigor the magician did not possess.
Siphoning it from the vessels of her allies was the only option, she tugged slightly upon their wrists, shuddering distastefully when their hollers of pain sounded, she knew the process was excruciating, but she wouldn't allow them to die, she outright refused it.
An encompassing star of burning fire exploded all around the three, wrapping them within its harmless caress and slipping their minds into an inescapable slumber. Miyuki was taught by her predecessors never to use the soul arts unless entirely necessary, and now was that time, if this didn't save them nothing would.
The thoughtful mage recalled a time when her body was not collapsed underneath the heavy weight of another's soul, the abducted ethereal energy of maddened men, forcefully beset upon them or otherwise. It had taken her so long to remember, many years of ignorant thoughts passing over a time of turmoil, how had she forgotten? She scratched her brain for an answer, and it came to her a moment too late, her mind fell victim to the forced sleep just as her allies, but the memories within still called to her.
"Oh my dear little Miyuki, I'm so proud of you." Her mother had told her, face as bewitching ever, lips curved buoyantly at the notion her only child would undergo such a special trial, she knew her daughter was capable of great things from the very beginning.
The young Miyuki wearily forced a lazy smile, saddened eyes beholding her mother weeping in joy, such a sight she knew she could not deny. She would have to undergo the trial herself, her mother's aid would mean immediate failure. To befriend a demon wasn't only a test of will, but a test of belief in one's own strength, for if she didn't even believe in her own power she would surely fail.
Miyuki gave a final farewell to her mother, steadily journeying away from the village of Yoshimizu. Her lingering eyes fell upon the frosty bluff where her new friend Patricia and her had made their vow of dreams the past night, she knew the poor girl was probably still asleep, they had after all spent the entire night discussing a deluge of childish things.
Rumors abound of a pair of demons disguising themselves as humans within the depraved valley, so desolate and removed from society, it was the perfect place to draw attention, being the only demon within such a place would whet the appetite of many a groups. The young Miyuki would have to be quick in approaching these demons, many would no doubt be after them.
It was hours before the mage sensed any pulse of life within the grassy mountains, something was definitely running afoul within the area however, she could sense it, the very air protested its chill, the critters of the wood did not skitter.
The curious girl butted her head through a concealing bush at the advent of a voice's call far below, several of them as she noticed. Her eyes fixated upon a duo of shadowed figures, hidden beneath a capes concealment, standing warily next to a group of thug-like individuals brandishing crusty blades.
A heated exchange was apparently taking place between the two, their raised voices shot back and forth, most of the talking was done between the leader of the bandits and the taller of the two hooded figures.
The mage leaned forward a bit too slightly, her tiny palms slipped upon the sloshing mud and sent her tumbling from her seated vantage point, rolling down the hill comically and setting her directly within the view of every sword-bearing individual in the area.
"What the hell?" A bandit cheeked out, and his moment of confusion melted away the faux of tension radiating from the duo of travelers. The taller one tore her gleaming blade away from its sheathe and charged, effortlessly cutting down every one of the criminals before they had the opportunity to reciprocate the aggression.
The swathe of blood and carnage doubled over within the child's fragile body, she relinquished a guzzling fume of her early breakfast upon the ground in a sickly green mess. Her queasiness and horror only intensified when the dead-eyed knight turned her attention upon the child, and silently she glanced to her lady for examination, which she offered delightfully in a humble laugh.
"Child, forgive us. My knight and I were simply traveling when we were beset upon by these ruffians, we did not mean to cause you fear. Umbasa be praised you were not harmed during your fall." The shorter figure spoke kindly, approaching the shivering child and surveying her body for any recent injuries, of which there were none.
The still cautious girl eyed the duo carefully, a red-haired maiden, a cold knight, the descriptions were uncanny to those her overseers had provided for her, these were indeed the two she sought. The golden hue present within the gazes of the two only solidified her worries, her quaky breath shuddered violently, she was sure she would be killed if she didn't present herself carefully.
The child stood solemnly, nervously fixing her appearance and crafting her face into a more or less agreeable smirk. "G-Greetings, I am Miyuki T-Takara of the magician's clan within the shadowed mountains. I'm currently undergoing trials t-to become a full-fledged mage…and I need to befriend a demon…you are d-demons, no?" Her request and presentation were both laughable, she wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to make peace with the demons in the first place, her teachers had specifically left out that part of the equation for her to figure out on her own.
The knight guardedly looked to her lady for guidance, and yet the saint seemed unafraid of the mage. The duo had been hunted by all manner of warriors and groups across the ages, but mage clans always held the top spot for the most feverish and cruel of these judges of their crimes. Here stood a child of the magicians, early tenured and likely unaware of her people's true purpose within the world, innocent and feeble, they could kill her now and free her of a life of hate and woe.
And yet her lady, even with the silent recognition of danger, showed no quarter in being overly warm to her enemy's child. It took the knight for a moment to catch on, and her face melted into delighted surprise when she realized.
"This child is the one Mephistopheles spoke of? But she's…so young." The knight whispered to the saint, feeling the uneasiness the girls age caused her lady. Their source had told them what needed to be done, seek out the shadowed lands newest prodigy, Miyuki Takara, and harness her raw power for the tasks at hand.
"Better she be young and ignorant..." The saint cringed at her own words, and yet she knew it was the truth. The child would forget what had befallen her in time, best she not understand the mysteries of her people, the true purpose of why she was sent to Yoshimizu valley. Pushing aside her guilt, the priestess knelt to hold the fearful child's hand within her own. "Miyuki-Chan, we are indeed demons. So young and yet so perceptive in the ways of the soul, truly inspiring. You say you have ventured here to befriend a demon? Well, I believe you just have." She spoke alluringly, it was unusual, but the hellish demon didn't remind the young mage of the stories at all.
Her voice was gentle like her mother's, her features were human-esque in nature and strikingly beautiful. These were the ancient beasts of all evil? These were the kin of the damned that plagued the land with their mere existence? Surely the stories must've been exaggerated, these poor creatures seemed nothing akin to the monstrous beasts the young Miyuki had been warned of.
"Well…that was e-easy." The child stuttered out, and alarmingly it surely was. Most children would've accepted the idea of a simple solution, but Miyuki discarded it knowingly. Something was amiss, these women definitely held the aura of a demon based upon what she had been told, but why would they so easily listen to her plight? Mages were, more or less, the hunters of demons. They kept demons in check and protected the populace despite the prejudice they received, their power made them both respected and feared.
"Not all demons conform to concept of evil, we are clear examples of this. We would be happy to assist you with your training, child." The saint revealed, humbly bowing her head to lower herself before her new master, the priest's knight nearly choked in disgust at the sight, but kept her cool regrettably.
The young Miyuki could barely contain her budding excitement, her fear was washed away with a storm of girlish giggles as she affectionately wrapped her arms around the dainty priestess, praising her with all manner of compliments. The mage-in-training was highly wary of her trials at first, but now she was certain that this was what she was meant to be, not all tests would be completed as easy as this one, but under the watchful eyes of her peers she would give no quarter in her quest to become a mage her mother would be proud to know, proud to have raised.
Pride at its peak, the mage led her new servants to a secluded cavern entrance, they wouldn't want any more undesirables intruding upon the ritual. Miyuki unpacked her supplies, chalk for drawing scriptures, a candelabra in tune with a magical nature of sorts, and of course her own blood, delicately poured from a clean cut down the palm of her hand.
"You are very brave." The priestess whispered to her master, and indeed she was, a child harming themselves without fear, boisterously proclaiming a cadre of dangerous demons as her slaves, the courage of human beings was surely the most startling aspect about the creatures.
Miyuki snickered at the woman's generous comment, hiding her budding blush as she scraped the pasty lines of chalk across the ground in puzzling shapes. "Well, I kind of have to be. When you become a mage, they teach you to live life without fear…without a clear mind sorcery can't be done, one must remain stalwart in both body and brain." The clever little girl explained, which of course only made the duo of demons respect her more, the child's intelligence alone was worthy of commendation.
The priestess watched astonishedly as Miyuki's tendered palm, caked with fresh blood, was smeared across the chalky surface of her seal. The pasty substance slithered for a moment, seemingly on its own, before it attached to the lines symmetrically with unusual perfection. It began to glow under the heat of the girls blood, gently humming the arrival of a contract between two souls, an agreement spoken not by words but hearts.
"Alright." Miyuki sounded, taking the two women's hands within her own and clasping the three pairs of limbs together, acknowledging simultaneously just how lifeless the vagabonds felt, missing pulse, pale skin, they surely were demons. "In order to solidify the pact between us, we each have to surrender a portion of ourselves, our souls, as tribute." The child explicated to her slaves, feeling their uneasiness but reassuring them with a bright smile the ritual would go without fault, even for a student the young Miyuki had the upmost confidence in her abilities. She had never performed a spell of this magnitude before, she had no idea how it would go or what would even happen, another detail hidden from her knowledge by the overseers.
"Magic is wrought by blood." The child whispered in a trance, shutting her mind out from the world as she began the ritual that would make all her dreams come true. "Blood, is consumed by the life force." Stoically she continued, even setting the duo of demons on edge, quite the frightening child. "The life force nourishes the soul within me." Her words seemed to give her an unnatural strength, her tiny body steadily vibrated uncontrollably, the seal at their feet beat with a gleaming glow, the windless air fumed a howling gust. "And the soul within me…gives me strength!" She finished expertly, squeezing her body tensely when the pain set in, her very muscles seemed to ache with some air of unnatural pain.
The seal floated mysteriously from the very dirt, held in place by some sickly green aura. Magically it pressed the blood pact wider, until the circular spell constricted itself around the group of vessels, sapping their life energy mercilessly. The three could feel their minds flutter with fatigue, their muscles beat irregularly, and their stingy eyes struggled to remain open. Miyuki couldn't have fathomed that the pain would be this excruciating, it felt as if somebody had crushed her under a large, unyielding stone. Her bones felt as though they were bending past their natural limits, her tongue sucked itself into the bottom of her throat, her nostrils flared with afflicted irritation.
The cavern exploded with a ghostly wail, blinding light converged upon the shadows within and devoured them wholly, engulfing the entire area in the cloud of magical discharge. The student was a student no longer as her consciousness steadily tore free of her body, her petite frame collapsed upon the dirt in a heap of pain. She surrendered her body to the acute feeling of displeasure within her mind, it called to her by name, and she found ignoring it impossible.
Hours later when the young girl awoke she would be unaware of what had happened during or after the ritual. Her mind was absolute in its ignorance of the situation, she couldn't even recall where she was or what had happened before she set out to the depraved valley of Yoshimizu. Her clothing was stained in blood, this she could see, and her hands were carved and deformed with hellish scars of a life hard lived.
She surveyed the area, nothing, a desolate and lifeless expanse of mud and rocks. Her eyes fell upon the mountain of Yoshimizu valley, smoke hung in the air dauntingly, what had happened? Her mother was nowhere to be found, and her young body was weakened with the stress of a battle she couldn't remember. The crimson streaks blending into patterns upon her robe gave her a plethora of nasty ideas however, but she rejected all of them, she was not the type of person who readily engaged in combat of any variety.
Adjacent to the Yoshimizu mountains lay the shadowed temples of her people, she knew this from the characteristic smog circling around their reaches like a perpetual cyclone. She could try and make the epic journey back home, but in her weakened state she'd definitely succumb to her injuries before she reached the base of the mountain.
A firm believer in the calls of destiny, Miyuki knew that nothing was left up to chance. Everything happened for a reason, and if she was meant to die here, alone, in this field of lifeless browned earth, so it would be.
Destiny has a funny way of surprising folks however, the dying little girl wouldn't have believed it when a horse-drawn carriage passed by her that morning, led by a most unusual man. She would come to know him as a dear friend eventually, a parental figure to assist her in her solitude when needed.
Happily the blue-haired man hopped down from his wooden vehicle, scooping up the battered child and tenderly placing her within the seat next to him and another figure. The individual seated next to the dreary Miyuki was young like she, a magnificent mane of azure hair draped over her tiny form, her lips were pursed in an almost feline fashion.
Their heavy and quick voices rung in the young Miyuki's ears as she lost herself to slumber, whatever was going on, the least she could do was thank the divines for their blessing, sending these two eccentric individuals to her, to direct her back upon the aimless path of destiny.
Miyuki awoke from the magically induced sleep sometime later, her memories behind her and yet fully fresh in her mind. How could she have forgotten such things? Was it a spell cast upon her by that dastardly duo of demons, Yutaka and Minami? The crusaders didn't seem evil, she pondered how, or why they would have reason to do such things.
Brushing aside such thoughts, Miyuki sighed at the sleeping forms of Patricia and Konata beside her, still gripped peacefully by the fatigue the soul-absorption had placed upon them. Teleportation magic was always tricky, one mistake and everyone involved could end up dead, and that was the easy way out.
Patricia's boundless anger had subsided for now, even if the method to cure her madness was a catastrophic attack by a demon, she thanked the gods above the poor girl wouldn't have to suffer through such emotions any longer. Miyuki wondered what had happened in her past at that moment, the ritual with the two demons long ago. She knew she had recognized them somewhere at first glance, but somehow her memory of the events that transpired were completely wiped from her mind.
Had the ritual failed? Did she gain control of the demons as per her masters instructions? Or were the hate-filled archer's words true? Had she destroyed Yoshimizu and all of its inhabitants? Perhaps the crusaders of Umbasa had tricked her somehow, but she couldn't know for sure. All she could do is hope to work things out with Patricia in the mean time, and ask Yutaka and her knight outright when their paths crossed once more, which given the twos mission of justice, it surely would.
"Tamura, god damn it! I knew I should have killed you when I had the chance!" A voice sounded in the distance, to which the hardy captain could only cock her head at, could she really have stumbled upon her missing kin so easily?
Luck eluded her as usual however, when the only figure to stumble out from the discarded rubble of the shattered temples was a young girl, coal black hair and large spectacles on the bridge of her nose, body cloaked in a lavish magician's robe. The girl squirmed and screamed as she ran, hoisting up her brushing gown as to not trip over it, hiding behind the armored stranger in a fit of cowardice as yet another figure appeared.
The progenitor of the snarling voice, a leather-clad woman with cascading golden locks, her lazy eyes held a fume of murder within.
"Hey, Hiyori Tamura, nice to meet you…say, you look like the brave sort. Keep that woman away from me and I'll pay you, promise!" The child behind her cheeked, praying for any measure of assistance in her asinine quarrel.
"Don't listen to that girl! She's a criminal, and a very dangerous one. I'm Nanako Kuroi, a hired sword that's been contracted to kill her, now stand aside and let me do my job." The assassin commanded furiously, and yet her tone seemed a tad more discouraged than outright angry, the poor hit-woman was on the verge of childish tears.
The captain looked to the cowering girl before her, who mock-begged with her hands in a prayer-clasp, neck shaking deviously, it really was a conundrum, who to trust? A criminal or a murderer, both seemed pretty lax of morals, and as a woman of ethics, she'd rather just haul the both of them away. She held no jurisdiction in Boletaria however, and she didn't come to this forsaken land to do her duty, she came to find her family. However if there was one thing she was taught in disputes such as this, go with your gut, the one with the blade is usually the aggressor.
The chaste commander tore her blade out hastily, curving the brandished sword at the now sweaty and red-faced assassin. "Nanako-Chan, I am captain Yui Narumi of Kasukabe. There is no longer a law in this land, so I cannot carry out judgment as per regulations, but I never ignore somebody in need!" The heroic knight proclaimed, bracing her form with a fulsome grin. "And criminal or no, you do her and yourself a dishonor by not giving her a fair chance in your duel." The captain's featherbrained suggestion accumulated a fair amount of confusion within both aggressive parties, Kuroi especially could hardly contain a choking laughter.
"What are you, a rookie knight or something? Last chance captain, hand over the girl." Kuroi demanded with no room for argument, but if a decade of being a decorated captain of the guard had taught Yui anything, words are wasted on the decided and armed.
A circling crow howling shrilly in the skies above was the tune to start, the two warriors charged without words, letting their swords do the talking in their place. The knight Yui hurled her magnificently crafted blade brutishly, feeling the tug of the immense bastard sword pull her more than she it, getting used to the burdensome blade was proving more difficult than she had imagined.
Kuroi curled her conditioned body backwards easily, having trained herself for bends of limbs and spines at almost inhuman levels, dodging a slow blade like the captain's would come easily to her. Another sliice of Yui's blade crushed downward, cleanly missing the assassin and lodging itself within the ashy dirt. The hit-woman nimbly tip-toed her feather light form onto the blade's girth, arcing her steel boot into a powerful kick that would've cleanly dislocated the knight's jaw if not for a chicken-peck backwards of the neck.
While it pained her to do so, Hiyori knew a distraction when she saw one, even if the brave captain Narumi rescued her from the deadly assassin, it would only be a matter of time until she learned of the court mage's true origins, and then she'd be done for regardless. She collected herself briefly before scurrying off into the first shambled building she saw, thanking both women for their part in her play. She had the information she needed, the dark secret she had come to these forgotten mage lands for.
It was long overdue, and at this point it probably wouldn't make any difference, but she had to correct her mistakes, her sins couldn't go unpunished. The orb of far sight had told her the only thing she needed to know to make amends, King Allant was alive, and she knew just where to find him.
Author's Note: Okay, two things. One, I don't have a god damn computer anymore. Let's just say hilarious antics ensued, beer was spilled in the fan vent of my computer, and the motherboard was fried from the inside out. Luckily I lost virtually nothing, as I keep a mobile hard drive for just such occasions. But in the mean time I'll have to make due writing new chapters with this crappy laptop, but I'll survive because I love you so much, and I enjoy pooping out new chapters of this filth to please you. And two, sorry it's another short chapter, the story is in one of those parts where it feels like one big-ass chapter, and the chapters apart are without point, only together do they feel whole. I'll have to work on that, oh well, until next time I suppose.