Emiri here with the seventh installment! Finally, some relationship development, and something interesting finally happens! Sorry to keep you waiting!
Chapter 7- Accusations and Abductions
As they descended deeper into the lake, the corridor widened, and all of a sudden, Mikoto rose on her hackles and growled. A few drops of something fell from the ceiling and landed on Chie's face. Touching it and bringing it to her nose, Chie reeled at the familiar scent: blood.
"Fresh blood. Tread with caution." She whispered, withdrawing her dagger: her bow and sword would be useless, and brass knuckles only went so far. The troupe proceeded towards the glow at the end of the tunnel with tensions hanging in the air. They emerged into the relatively light and very comfy interior of Trei's office: only to find it covered with more sanguine red stains. At his desk sat a malicious but breathtaking sight: a woman, her form, like a demon, but she possessed an ethereal feel as well. She wore full Host champions battle plate: and one either side of her, like guards, were two giant arachnids: Spindræ.
She spoke in broken and heavily accented Commontongue: Chie wondered how on earth she had learned the Allied speech.
"My dear Gypsies! So nice to see you… again." She leaned her armored elbows on Trei's sleek drakewood desk, peering intently at them.
"Tomoe." Chie curtly replied, her sweaty hand clamped around her dagger, knuckles turning white.
"Chie! Long time no see. Not since… Roedrenmon. That was such fun, wasn't it?"
"If you define fun as a slaughter of innocent Halflings and Plainsrunners." Chie replied, her eyes narrowing. "What're you up to, Marguerite? You played this game once before, but I know your plan now. So, spit it."
"My, Chie, can a Host commanders not just catch up with an… old friend?" AT this, Chie's eyebrows rose incredulously and Tomoe gave a chuckle. "Obviously not."
Chie felt Aoi timidly clutch onto her cloak and she defensively shielded her. Taking a quick glance backwards, she saw that the rest of her team was okay.
"Hallard, do you happen to remember our problematic little friend at Roedrenmon?"
"How could I forget?" She almost chuckled, but the Spindræ were extremely menacing, and she kept her poker face.
"A wayward Halfling… I think those were the Allied king's exact words. It seems we have a small problem with the baggage we dropped off around here some time ago."
"Quit fuc- oh, God, no. You don't mean to say that the child was…" Chie's face froze in shock.
Tomoe gave a giggle and smiled a menacing smile. "Chie, I want to make a deal with you. I have… certain needs relating to the princess. You need peace and a home, neither of which will happen if the current, quiet battle over the Halfling escalates. So, here it is: you bring me them both, and I pay you enough so that you never have to worry again. Also, I'll server your ties to the Host altogether. Sounds good?"
"What's the catch?" Chie asked suspiciously; Tomoe was not the type that Chie easily trusted.
"No catch. It's actually pretty easy. The Halfling is with the princess in the Keep, the big white one in Windbloom. Once they run away, offer to take them and then deliver them to me."
"What makes you so sure they'll run away?"
"I've never yet been wrong, have I? Anyway, wait on the Allied border and I'll send an emissary to you soon."
"I haven't accepted yet!"
"Yet. But Arak'Nathal-" she pointed to the Spindra on her right, "- really wants you to accept."
Chie, seeing she had no choice, gave a reluctant nod: she had been forced into the situation. And besides, there was a good chance for her. Chie didn't want another War. She knew it was selfish, but she had to protect Aoi from the horrible sights of bloodshed and battle. She turned her back to leave, heart heavy and head swimming. There was utmost silence as they rose into the cavern, and there was one central thought: they were no longer free people.
-In the Palace of Magthor, King of Windbloom-
Calloused fingers running through his thinning beard, Magthor slowly rose from his bed to look out of the giant window upon his kingdom.
"Halflings… such a problematic race. I thought we got rid of them all and Roedrenmon, but now…"
"Your Majesty,' Miss Maria inched through the door, "Miss Natsuki wished to speak with you,"
"Of course. Enter, girl."
Natsuki entered the room and curtseyed to the king. Miss Maria left and Natsuki squarely faced the king.
"What was it you wished to speak of, girl? I am tired, make haste…"
"Yes, your highness. You see, the problem is that I am supposed to be assassinating you."
The maid took out a revolver and fired.
-Ten minutes previously-
Natsuki stood, dumbstruck and confused. Her brain struggled to cope with Shizuru's speech. Then, I dawned on her in one rush: she had got too worked up in the lay. She had slipped back into Earthentongue and Shizuru had found out that she was really a Halfling.
"Ah… uh…" Natsuki stuttered, unable to formulate a speech. She was so muddled, her brain was telling her to do two overpowering things at once. One voice told her to whip out her dagger and kill Shizuru.
The other told her to kiss her.
"Arrrrgghhh!" She screamed as the thoughts collided within her head, causing a shooting pain to course through Natsuki's body, and she lost control, sinking to her knees. From where her hands her instinctively clamped over her illusionary human ears, she felt the real, wolven ears re-appear, along with the sensation of her bushy tail re-growing and her fangs sprouting. It was really quite unpleasant.
Shizuru's hand stopped short of covering her mouth in surprise as she beheld this transformation, scared even though she had worked the maid's real identity out already. One word uttered from her lips, over and over, something that her father had drilled into her since the day she could listen.
"Roedrenmon… Roedrenmon…" she mumbled, the story playing once again inside her head. The slaughter that had happened there. A great 'victory' over those that threatened to destroy the peace of the kingdom. But, here it was, proof that they had failed. Natsuki looked so… lonely, the last of her kind, stranded between right and wrong and forced to do things that she abhorred. She carefully lifted her proud head to Shizuru's level, viridian eyes guarded. She spoke, quietly but menacingly.
"Your father… you have no idea what he is. You look upon him as a great ruler and hero of the allied, but he is really…" she paused for effect, "Quite different."
Shizuru was scared. What was this girl saying? Her father was the king, the hero of the allied clans and the ruler that had kept peace for over ten years-
Shizuru felt a soft pair of lips on her own, which were accompanied by a sharp pain and a flash in her head. Images exploded behind her eyes, images of cruelty, bloodshed and battlefields. Then, a cooler, more defined picture, one that played out in her head as if it were a memory. She was looking from the eyes of a small child, and saw a lock of cobalt hair fall from its place behind and ear and obscure half of her vision. Natsuki. She clung on to a long and rough sleeve, revealed to be a tall wolf-man in a calico tunic. He glanced at her, whispering a few words in a guttural tongue.
"Quá-d'nar diursk ha ny-a'er'an c'tá…" Shizuru thought she was well versed in languages, but the structure and style of this, the Halfling's speech, was new to her. From Natsuki's perspective, she saw a row of rough graves, with crude wooden idols and markers sticking up from them. Tears welled up in the young Natsuki's eyes as she asked the wolf-man,
"teoklár?"
"…daen."
"Ha, maeklár?"
"t'kah daen… T'or ekril, Natsuki."
Natsuki began sobbing. Shizuru knew that her parents were gone. What a sad thing- ripped from both your parents at such a young age. Shizuru almost felt a tear come to her own eyes. Then, slowly, she resurfaced into the real world and felt Natsuki detach herself, an expectant look on her face.
After a long pause, Shizuru spoke, low and unsure. "Father… did this? To his own alliance?" she received a curt nod. It seemed that Natsuki could not bring herself to speak either, and Shizuru realized that the memory was infinitely more painful for the girl who had actually experienced it. Shizuru made her mind up.
"Natsuki. If Father really did do this…"
Natsuki sucked in a breath, ready.
"…If he has really turned away from the light…"
"…Then I ask of you…"
"Please, end his torment."
Present
Natsuki flinched as the king looked at the hole in his tunic that was rapidly staining the rich material red. He looked levelly into Natsuki's emerald eyes.
"Fool," he breathed, breath coming out in a cloud of black smoke. The smoke slowly began to solidify and a shadow rose from the fallen corpse of King Magthor the First of Windbloom, former.
"Fool," the shadow said again in a lower, more sinister voice. It took the rough shape of a man and glared at Natsuki with red, slit-like eyes. "Poor little Girl. So alone… you have nobody like you left. They all died. Poor, Foolish little Halfling. Let me put you out of your misery…" A bolt of darkness shot and a terrifying speed form the Wraythe, hitting Natsuki squarely on the chest. She coughed and spluttered a few drops of blood, blown back by the force of the impact. Quickly steadying herself and drawing her prized daggers, she shadowstepped to behind the Wraythe, performing and double slash and a kick. Panther formation, straight out of the textbook.
The Wraythe chuckled evilly as Natsuki fell forwards and her leg went straight through its non-corporeal body. Frustrated, she rolled over to the door, seeking to find a vantage point.
Think, Natsuki, think! I can't kill it physically, but I have very little offensive magic at my disposal… fire would just set this place ablaze… even physical magic is useless!
"That's right, little girl. Your knife is useless. Your magic is useless… do you feel useless? You can't do anything right… you let that pretty princess get to you, didn't you?"
"NO!" Natsuki yelled, knuckles white on the grips of her weapons. "I didn't! I would have had to kill him anyway… and I… she wanted…"
"Do you honestly think she wanted her daddy dearest to die? Can you face her after this? Think of what she'd say…" the Wraythe shifted into a guise of Shizuru and spoke in a mocking voice.
"Oh, Natsuki, what have you done! You've killed daddy! You're nothing better than a cold-blooded murderer!"
Murderer…
Murderer…
"Murderer…"
"NOOOOOOO!" Natsuki screamed, her body shaking uncontrollably. "I'm not…"
Takeda…
The King…
All those nameless, faceless targets…
What about their wives and children, Na-tsu-ki?
You killed them too, Na-tsu-ki…
You killed them.
Who knows… maybe they'll make you kill the pretty princess to make a clean job of it…
Hmmmm?
"Get… out… of… my… head!" She screamed, opening her eyes to find herself face-to-face with the Wraythe.
"Shame" It said, dissipating instantaneously and leaving the room silent as the grave.
You'd make such a good Wraythe…
Natsuki did a three-sixty to look for the danger. But it was gone. There was no sound, no movement.
"Natsuki?" came Shizuru's accented voice from the other side of the door. She began to enter, but Natsuki shut her out.
"No, Shizuru… you don't want to see this. Go up to your rooms and pack sparsely. We're leaving." Natsuki heard the patter of footsteps steadily get quieter and assumed Shizuru had gone to do so. Natsuki closed her eyes and concentrated on removing all trace of herself from the room, which would slow the guards in their pursuit of the killer. They'd think that possibly the princess and her maid had been killed too- giving Natsuki and Shizuru a precious week or so of time to get out of the Allied Lands.
Once this was done, she sauntered out of the scene, keen to get away from the dead body. Slipping behind a tapestry, she worked her way up to her rooms, stripping herself of her ostentatious royal maid's uniform in favour of some breeches, comfy boots and a shirt with a leather breastplate. She grabbed her cloak and slung it over herself, pulling the hood over her eyes and the mask up to her nose, insuring that she was not recognized. She took a swig of potion and headed out of the door.
Shizuru was waiting for her, cloak covering her dress, which, Natsuki reasoned, would not be good for traveling. She'd have to get Shizuru some plainer clothes at the first chance. Shizuru had a small pack.
"We got money?" Natsuki asked, noticing the distinct lack of it in her wallet.
Shizuru smiled and winked. "Of course. I took the liberty of taking out a bit of my savings…" she presented a heavy bag of coins. Natsuki held it and gasped.
"There must be at least 400 gold in here! Are you mad!"
"Better to be prepared, we may need horses…" Shizuru reasoned.
Natsuki grudgingly set about hiding money in every crevice she had concealed in her outfit, in her boots, her breastplate, thousands of tiny pockets in her breeches and on the inside lining of her cloak. They how had a less conspicuous 50 gold in the purse, around what a lucky merchant would carry.
Natsuki turned to Shizuru and gave her a look. "You ready?"
Shizuru just nodded, not trusting herself to speak. Her Father, the last of her family, was dead. The kingdom would collapse. She was on the run with the only Halfling alive.
It could only go uphill from here, surely.
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sorry about the HUGE delay! I was dealing with exams, other stories and the usual shit. Thanks for reviewing, alerting or favouriting! You guys get a free peacock!
Emiri