Chapter 17: Despair
"Yeah! We did it! We showed those punks who was boss! We totally kicked their a-!" Ruth said before Cartaphilus came out of nowhere and snapped Ruth's neck, killing him instantly.
"RUTH! NOOOOOOO!" Chise screamed as she watched Ruth's dead body fall to the floor.
"RUTH!" Elias yelled as he watched his best friend fall to the floor, dead.
Cartaphilus laughed as Ruth's body fell to the ground, even going as far as to kick Ruth's body the moment it hit the ground. Chise yelled in anger as she got up and ran full speed at Cartaphilus. Cartaphilus chuckled as he blasted Chise away with some sort of magic spell that stopped her arms and legs from moving at all. Cartaphilus then made short work of Elias by forming a large sphere of dark magic.
"No surprises from you, Ainsworth; DARK VOID!" Cartaphilus yelled as he fired the dark orb of magic right at Elias.
Elias tried to move out of the way but he was too late as he was hit by the attack. Elias's whole body was engulfed in darkness and red lightning. After a few moments, Elias let out a final roar before he fell unconscious. Cartaphilus laughed as he watched Elias fall victim to the power of his Dark Void attack. After Elias was unconscious, Silky, who had retrieved a pair of replacement Kamas from inside the house before Elias, Chise, and Ruth had arrived, charged at Cartaphilus. Cartaphilus wasn't phased by this at all as he just fired another one of his Dark Void attacks. But Silky was very fast so she was able to dodge the attack and actually made it to Cartaphilus. Silky was quick to hook Cartaphilus in the sides with her Kamas. Cartaphilus yelled in pain as Silky started to drive the Kamas deeper into his skin. Cartaphilus chuckled and gave Silky a sinister grin.
"Bright Flash." Cartaphilus said calmly as he unleashed a bright light from his body and blinded Silky.
Cartaphilus then kicked Silky away and then pulled her Kamas out of his sides before he tossed them away. As Silky got back up, Cartaphilus took her out by blasting her with a Dark Void. This time the attack was a success and Silky was also now unconscious. Cartaphilus laughed as he walked over to Silky's unconscious body and then picked her up and then threw her against the tree. Cartaphilus chuckled as he then started walking over to where Chise was laying. Chise was still struggling to try and move but her body was still under the effect of the spell.
"(Chuckle) What's wrong, Chise? Can't move?" Cartaphilus asked as he stood next to Chise.
"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" Chise screamed as she spat at Cartaphilus, who just chuckled in response.
"My my, such anger and hatred, Chise." Cartaphilus said as he put on a very obvious fake scared face.
"WE DIDN'T SEE YOU! WHERE WERE YOU!? HOW!?" Chise screamed as she fought with every fiber in her body.
"Oh, how did I magically appear behind your Familiar? Quite simple, I simply used an Invisibility Spell. Truth be told, I was actually standing by the door of your little home, waiting for you all to return. Originally, I didn't intend to kill Ruth, I was gonna kill your maid, but I figured, why not shoot my shot and take out Ruth and maybe you as well. However, it seems that Ruth must have cut off his link with you as you are still alive and breathing before my eyes. Anyway, after you all came back, I simply walked up behind Ruth and then made myself visible again, and snapped your Familiar's neck and killed him." Cartaphilus explained in such a calm and mocking voice.
"I will... kill you!" Chise said as she could no longer scream.
"(Chuckle) Yes, I'm sure you will. Now, come along my dear, it's time for your appointment with the Spell-Breaker. Please, allow me to carry you and we'll be on our-OW!" Cartaphilus yelled as his left ear was suddenly cut off by a Shuriken.
Cartaphilus looked over and saw Joseph, who had run back into the house to retrieve some of Silky's weapons. Joseph had returned just in time and saved Chise from getting taken. Joseph's eye was full of rage as he glared at Cartaphilus, tightening his grip on his new sword that he had borrowed from Silky's weapon stash. Cartaphilus held the spot where his ear was and then looked at his hand which was covered in blood. Cartaphilus only chuckled as he saw Joseph.
"Well, well, well, Joseph my old friend." Cartaphilus said as he walked away from Chise to give himself some room.
"Shut up!" Joseph yelled as he grasped his sword even tighter.
"I must ask, what happened to your eye? Corrupted Simon really must have done you in." Cartaphilus said, noticing Joseph's cut open eye.
"SHUT UP! I will kill you for what you have just done!" Joseph yelled.
"Joseph! No, don't! You still haven't recovered! You can't fight him!" Chise cried as she didn't want to lose anymore of her friends.
"Girl's got a point. You have no more magic, you're body is still exhausted, and all you have is a sword to defend yourself. You're as weak as a newborn baby." Cartaphilus said.
"I don't care! I will protect Chise and everyone else with my life!" Joseph yelled as he approached Cartaphilus.
"Joseph! No!" Chise cried as she pleaded for him to stand down.
"(Chuckle) Ah yes, once again, it's just you and me, Joseph." Cartaphilus said as they started circling each other slowly.
"I should never have spoken to you when we met. I should have ignored you! I should have walked away!" Joseph yelled in frustration.
"(Chuckle) Yes, you should have! But you didn't, so now you must live with the consequences of your actions." Cartaphilus said.
"I swear... I will send you to where you belong." Joseph said as prepared to attack.
"Oh? And where is that?" Cartaphilus asked.
"I'M SENDING YOU STARIGHT TO HELL!" Joseph yelled as he lunged at Cartaphilus.
Joseph swung his sword at Cartaphilus, but he dodged it and then punched Joseph in the face. Joseph shook it off and started swing his sword rapidly at Cartaphilus. Cartaphilus just dodged every swipe and once he saw Joseph stop to take a breath, he grabbed him by the throat and smashed his head into his, causing Joseph to drop his sword.
"You should have known better you fool! What could YOU have done? You have no powers! You're just a mortal human! You are weak! Know your place, Joseph! DARK VOID!" Cartaphilus yelled as he shoved Joseph away and then blasted him with his Dark Void attack, taking Joseph out as well. "(Chuckle) Honesty, did you really think that you were going to stop me? No one can stop me! I am the great and powerful Cartaphil-OW!" Cartaphilus yelled as he was suddenly punched so hard he flew into a tree.
After Cartaphilus recovered from the impact, he got up and saw that the effects of his magic had worn off on Chise. Chise took out her wand and prepared to battle Cartaphilus.
"It's over Cartaphilus. You're dead!" Chise yelled as she aimed her wand at Cartaphilus.
"Oh really? (Chuckle) I don't think so." Cartaphilus said as he extended his hand towards Ruth's body.
Suddenly, Cartaphilus's hand was surrounded by a glowing green essence and then from his hand, a green skull emerged and quickly went right into Ruth's dead body. Cartaphilus then raised his hand quickly and close his hand into a fist and gave Chise a smug and evil smile. Then, Chise was shocked to see Ruth was starting to move.
"Now, Ruth, bring Chise to me." Cartaphilus said.
Ruth stood up on his feet and then turned his whole body to face Chise. Chise then saw glowing green cracks appearing all over Ruth's skin, even his veins were glowing green. Chise was horrified as Ruth opened his eyes to look at her. When Ruth opened his eyes, Chise saw that he now had bright green eyes that were in the shape of a skull.
"Ruth... no..." Chise said as she had realized what Cartaphilus had just done.
"As you command, my master." Corrupted Ruth said as he walked towards Chise, putting his fists up, ready to fight.
"Ruth... no... it can't be... NO!" Chise yelled as she started to back away slowly, holding the sides of her head with both hands as she felt pure and utter devastation.
"What's the matter, Chise? You look terrified." Corrupted Ruth said as he gave Chise a grin.
"P-Please... no." Chise said as she started shaking out of both fear and devastation.
"Come on, Chise, it's just me; good boy Ruth." Corrupted Ruth said as he readied his fist to punch Chise.
"R-Ruth... this can't be happening." Chise said.
"Oh, but it is!" Corrupted Ruth said as he punched Chise in the face.
The punch knocked Chise back a bit, but before she could have any time to regain her focus, Ruth started to repeatedly punch Chise over and over. Chise was still just too mortified to put up a fight, so she was just enduring a beatdown from Ruth. Ruth gave Chise a good shove and then started to punch Chise in the stomach. Chise just stood there and took the beatdown as Ruth kept on hitting her. After a few more good punches, Ruth decided that he was fed up with Chise's game so he decided to just go against his master's orders. Ruth decided to just kill Chise and get it over with. Ruth grabbed Chise by the collar of her shirt and then lifted her up slightly and brought her close to his face, forcing her to stare into his green eyes. Chise still would give no reaction, making Ruth even more furious. Ruth then raised his fist up and lit it with fire, ready to use his flame fist to punch Chise's heart out. Right as Ruth was about to jam his fist through Chise's chest, Chise snapped out of her trance and punched Ruth hard in the face, breaking his nose. Ruth covered his nose in pain as he staggered. Chise then grabbed ahold of Ruth's arm and pulled him back into a punch as he slipped and fell to the ground. Chise then tried to stomp on Ruth, but he quickly rolled out of the way and got back up to his feet. Chise and Ruth then started to throw punches at each other. Since they were both so evenly matched in terms of their speed and reflexes, neither of them could land a hit on each other.
After a few minutes of countering and blocking each other, Chise jumped back a bit and then held her hands up, shielding her face. Ruth started to punch Chise's arms over and over, in hopes that he could tire her out and force her to lower her guard. Chise however, wanted this to happen as she waited for just the right moment. When Ruth was good and focused on hitting her, Chise kneed Ruth in the crotch hard. With Ruth in great pain, Chise grabbed ahold of his shirt collar with his Dragon Hand and punched him in the face with her normal hand. Ruth took a few more hits to the face before he kicked Chise in the stomach, knocking her back a bit. Ruth then tried to grab Chise by the throat with both hands, but Chise grabbed ahold of his hands arms and moved them away as she headbutted him. Chise then sucker punched Ruth in the face, lunging forward a bit to give her punch a bit more power. Ruth fell back a bit from the punch but he managed o grab ahold of Chise's arm and then tossed her to the side. Ruth then tried to kick Chise in the face, but she ducked under the kick and then uppercutted Ruth. Chise then tried to punch Ruth in the face again, but Ruth was able to grab ahold of Chise's fist and then shoved her hand down out of the way, allowing him to headbutt her this time. Chise shook the stun off and then went back to fighting as they both countered each other's punches. Ruth eventually tried to sucker punch Chise, but Chise jumped back and then took out her wand and spun around, hitting Ruth hard in the face, causing him to stumble back.
"Ruth, stop this!" Chise cried as they started circling each other.
"I don't take orders from you, Chise! I serve my master, Cartaphilus!" Corrupted Ruth said.
"The master that snapped your neck, Ruth!" Chise reminded him.
"Something you LET him do!" Corrupted Ruth snapped.
"How could you say something like that!?" Chise cried in disbelief.
"Simple! Haven't you been having visions of the future? You didn't see this happen in one of your hot flashes, huh!?" Corrupted Ruth asked.
"My visions are gone, Ruth! When I fought the Spell-Breaker, he put some sort of spell on me and according to him, I won't be having anymore of those visions. Even though my visions are gone, I know that this wasn't supposed to happen to you." Chise said.
"Oh really? Then who WAS it supposed to happen to then; if not me!?" Corrupted Ruth yelled.
"No one! No one was supposed to die!" Chise yelled.
"Yeah whatever! You want to know what I think? I think you KNEW this would happen and you just let it happen!" Corrupted Ruth yelled.
"Ruth... how could you! If I had known this was going to happen, I would have done everything I could have done to stop it!" Chise yelled.
"(Scoffs) Somehow I'm having a hard time believing that, Chise. I wonder, how many more of us are gonna die because of you." Corrupted Ruth said.
"Ruth, do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth? Not long ago you were just telling me how those words were lies made up by the Spell-Breaker and now you are spewing those lies back at me!" Chise yelled.
"Yeah, that was back before I knew how much danger I was in being around you! And you know what? They were right; Lindel, Simon, Angelica, they were right about you!" Corrupted Ruth yelled as he lunged forward at Chise.
Ruth tried to pounce Chise to the ground, but Chise was quick to react as she managed to kick him in the chest. Chise then swung her wand at Ruth trying to knock him out. Ruth was fast on his feet as he dodged every swipe from Chise's wand. Ruth had to move backwards while he was dodging however as Chise was moving forward with every swing of her wand. Eventually Ruth was backed up against a tree and Chise thought she had gotten the upper hand. Right as Chise was about to smack Ruth in the face with her wand, Ruth scratched Chise's hand, causing her to drop her wand. Chise didn't give up as she then used her Dragon Hand to try tp punch Ruth into the tree behind him. Ruth of course, saw this coming and leaned out of the way, causing Chise to smash her hand right into the tree. Chise then tried to yank her hand out but she found her hand was stuck in the tree. Thinking fast, Chise used her free hand to punch Ruth in the face. Ruth had blocked the punch by grabbing ahold of Chise's fist right before she could hit him.
As Chise tried to push back against Ruth, she looked back at his face and saw Ruth let out an evil chuckle as he gave Chise a sinister grin. Suddenly, Chise let out of scream of agony as she looked to see that Ruth had lit his hand up with fire, and was now burning Chise's right hand. Chise yelled in pain as she tried desperately to get away from Ruth, but Ruth had a burning tight grip and Chise's Dragon Hand was still lodged in the tree. After a few more moments of burning, Ruth sucker punched Chise in the face, causing her hand to become unstuck and causing her to fall back on the ground. Ruth walked over to Chise and then stomped on her stomach, pinning her down. Ruth then lit both of his hands up with flames as he looked down at Chise.
"Now, it's time to die, Chise! I hope you burn in he-GAH!" Corrupted Ruth yelled as he was suddenly hit with a blast of lighting from behind.
Ruth fell next to Chise as he was still suffering from the lighting spell that he was just hit with. Chise sat up and saw that Cartaphilus had blasted Ruth with lightning magic. Cartaphilus looked very disappointed. Chise tried to reach out to Ruth, but then she was hit with the lightning spell, causing her to slide back a bit. Cartaphilus then looked back to Ruth as he weakly tried to get back up.
"Enough, Ruth, you've wasted enough time. Come, The Spell-Breaker awaits us." Cartaphilus said as he turned around and used his magic to open a portal up.
"No. I have something to take care of first." Corrupted Ruth said as he started to crawl over to Chise.
Cartaphilus did not like this as he blasted another wave of lighting at Ruth, causing him to fall back to the floor in pain.
"You will do as you are told, Ruth. Now come here, dog." Cartaphilus said as he prepared to blast more lighting at Ruth.
Ruth panted hard and then glared at Chise as he weakly stood back up on his feet.
"You're lucky, Chise." Corrupted Ruth said as he stood up. "But just you wait, I'll be back. And when I do, I swear, I'll make sure you burn for this." Corrupted Ruth said as he turned to walk away.
"Ruth! Don't go! Ru-!" Chise cried before she was suddenly kicked hard in the face by Ruth.
"Shut up." Corrupted Ruth said as he walked away from Chise and walked into the portal, not looking back.
"(Chuckle) See you around, Chise." Cartaphilus said as he gave Chise a little wave before he walked into the portal himself, shutting it once he was through.
Chise panted as she tried to get back to her feet. Chise then suddenly winced as she grabbed her right hand in pain. Chise could see that her right hand was horribly burned from Ruth's fire. Chise did her best to shake off the pain as she crawled over to where Elias was still unconscious. Chise reached out and grabbed Elias's shoulder as she tried to shake him awake.
"Elias... Elias. Elias wake up." Chise said as she tried to shake Elias awake, but got no response. "(Sigh) Well, I guess I have no other choice." Chise said as she reached for the front of Elias's jaw.
Chise managed to get her fingers inside of Elias's jaw and then with the strength she still had, she pried his jaw open as much as she needed it to be. Chise took a deep breath and then shoved her Dragon Hand down Elias's throat, just like she had done that one time she had accidentally put him to sleep. As soon as Chise's hand was deep down in Elias's throat, his red eyes came back instantly and Elias woke up with a start. Elias shoved Chise away from him and then started spitting everywhere as he tried to recover from that awful experience. As Elias started to breathe heavily, he turned his head to look at Chise. Chise didn't need any sort of knowledge to know that Elias was not pleased with her at all. After a few awkward moments of silence, Elias spoke up.
"Chise... I don't believe I gave you any permission to do that to me again." Elias said sternly.
"Well, if it makes you fell better, it was a lot worse for me than it was for you." Chise said.
"Chise, I had a hand down my throat and was choking. I don't think you know how that feels." Elias said.
"Elias, look that's not what's important right now. Do you think you can-."
"Your hand." Elias interrupted as he noticed Chise's horribly burned hand.
"Forget it. Can you wake-."
"What happened, Chise?" Elias asked as he gently grabbed Chise's hand and examined it.
"R-Ruth... burned me." Chise said.
"Ruth? Ruth! Where is Ruth?" Elias asked as he looked around hopefully for his friend.
"He's gone... he's... one of them." Chise said sadly as she looked down.
"What? One of who?" Elias asked.
"One of the corrupted. He's one of Cartaphilus's puppets, just like Lindel, Simon, and Angelica." Chise said.
"Damn it. No." Elias said as he slammed his fist on the ground.
"Look, there's nothing we can do right now. Elias, can you wake Silky and Joseph up?" Chise asked as Elias looked over to the bodies of Joseph and Silky.
"I'll see what I can do." Elias as he got up, helping Chise stand as well. "Stay close to me for now, Chise. I don't want to take any chances." Elias said as Chise stood next to him as he began using his magic to wake Silky and Joseph back up.
Soon, Silky and Joseph were finally back awake, although not in the best condition due to their recent battle. Joseph tried to get up on his own but he slipped and almost fell on his face. Luckily, Silky managed to grab ahold of Joseph and helped him to his feet.
"Inside, everyone." Elias said as he motioned to the open front door of the house. "We are not safe out here." Elias said as he picked Chise up and carried her inside the house.
Once everyone was inside, Elias made sure that the door was locked up tight and then he carried Chise upstairs to her room, where he laid her gently on her bed.
"Alright, Chise, you stay here and don't leave the house until I return." Elias said as he laid Chise on her bed.
"Return? Where are you going, Elias?" Chise asked worriedly.
"I have an errand to run. Do not worry, I will be back shortly." Elias said as he turned to face the direction of the door, noticing that Silky was standing outside the room. "Tend to Chise while I am away." Elias said to Silky as he got up to leave the room.
"Elias, I'm coming with you." Chise said as she was about to get up.
"No." Elias said sternly as he stopped to look back at Chise. "You will not come with me. You will stay here. Silky, do not let Chise step foot out of this house... that's an order." Elias said coldly as he put on his human glamour and then left the room.
However, Elias was not in fact leaving to run an errand as he had just claimed. From the moment Elias had been woken up by Chise, he had felt nothing but anger and hatred and he was having a hard time holding in his anger. Elias didn't want to hurt anyone so he knew he had to get out of the house as soon as possible before he snapped. Elias could feel his hands shaking with uncontrollable rage, his breathing was heavy and impatient. Elias knew he was running out of time, he just had to make sure things would be okay. As Elias walked down the stairs, he saw Joseph sitting at one of the chairs in the living room. Elias approached Joseph and spoke up.
"Stand by the window and keep watch. If you see anyone coming near the house that isn't me, kill them." Elias said as he turned away from Joseph to head out the front door.
"Uh, are you sure?" Joseph asked.
This made Elias very angry as he had no time to put up with this nonsense. Elias morphed back into his regular form and grabbed Joseph by the throat and choke-slammed him against the wall. Joseph tried desperately to free himself but Elias wouldn't budge. Elias was so angry and trying to resist the urge to just kill Joseph. Elias then brought his face closer to Joseph as he let out a nasty growl.
"I said... stand by the window and keep watch... if you see anyone coming that isn't me... kill them." Elias said as he dropped Joseph to the floor, too angry to care whether he hurt him or not. "Do not make me repeat myself again, or I will kill you." Elias said as he walked out the door and then slammed it shut behind him.
Once Elias walked a few minutes away from the house, he took out his wand and teleported himself somewhere in the woods.
Meanwhile, Silky had left the room to retrieve some medical supplies for Chise's burned hand. As Silky walked back in the room, Chise happened to look out the window and saw Elias teleport away. Chise was worried. She had heard the heavy slam downstairs and she could tell by how hard Elias had slammed the front door that he was very very angry. Chise just hoped that Elias wouldn't hurt himself, everyone had gone through enough pain that day. Silky then motioned for Chise to stand up and to follow her. Chise did so as she got out of the bed ad followed Silky into the bathroom. Silky walked Chise over to the sink and then held Chise's right and above the sink. Silky then took out a small little bottle, which Chise of course was curious about. Silky explained that it was a potion Elias had made that would help cure burn wounds a lot faster as she poured some of the potion onto Chise's hand. Chise winced a bit as she felt a terrible sting from the potion, but at least the potion was doing its job. After about a minute, Silky rinsed Chise's hand off and then handed Chise a rag. Silky then told Chise to apply pressure to the her hand for a little bit as she started filling the tub with water. Silky then told Chise to keep applying pressure while she would fetch her some new clothes. As Silky left the bathroom, Chise looked in the mirror and saw tears falling from her eyes. Images of Ruth dying right in front her kept flooding Chise's mind as she started to breathe abnormally as she felt as if she was going into shock.
"N-No... no!" Chise panted as she was suddenly hit with so many flashes of Ruth dying.
Chise grabbed ahold of the sink as she tried to prevent herself from falling over. Chise just couldn't hold herself up as she slipped. Luckily, Silky had returned just in time to catch Chise from falling and then hugging her tightly. Silky comforted Chise as best as she could as Chise broke down in tears.
"Silky... it's all my fault!" Chise cried as she cried into Silky's shoulder.
"No, it's not. Do not let that monster fill your head with his lies." Silky said as she hugged Chise.
"They're dead. They're dead because of me!" Chise cried.
"No, that is not true. Their deaths were not caused by your actions. They were caused by the hands of that wicked monster. Do not blame yourself for his actions." Silky said.
"But Ruth..." Chise said, before Silky put a finger on her over her lips.
"There was nothing you could have done to prevent Ruth's death, Chise. I believe that if you had known what was going to happen, you would have done everything in your power to stop it." Silky said.
"But... Silky..." Chise said.
"Chise, I know those corrupted say that you are a terrible person. They say that you are evil, wicked and or even a murder. But I know that is not true. Chise, you are a sweet, caring, and loving girl. You would do anything to protect your friends. And a far as I can tell, hearts don't come any bigger than yours. You're wonderful, Chise, never forget that." Silky said as she gave Chise a warm smile.
"Silky, thank you so much." Chise said as she hugged Silky.
"Of course, Chise. We're all here for you." Silky said.
"I'm so happy to know such wonderful people." Chise said.
"And we're so happy that we know you, Chise. Well, you go ahead and wash up. I've left some new clothes right here for you. Just put your dirty clothes in the hamper and I'll go wash them up for you." Silky said.
"Thanks, Silky." Chise said as she turned to face the bathtub.
Chise then began to take off her clothes as Silky helped her undress. Once Chise was undressed, she climbed into the tub and began to wash herself. Silky meanwhile gathered up the dirty clothes and went to wash them up, shutting the door behind her. Once Chise had cleaned herself, she just took some time to sit in silence in the bath. Chise did her best to not think about her friends being corrupted and tried to just only remember how her friends were when they were alive. Chise remembered their smiles and their kind words. She remembered how funny Ruth could be at times, especially when he would act like a normal dog. She remembered how happy Lindel was to tell stories and how happy he always seemed to be whenever he saw her. She remembered how much Angelica was willing to help whenever she could and just how nurturing Angelica was to her. She also remembered how kind Simon would be every time he would visit. Chise smiled to herself as she remembered just how lucky she was to know such amazing people. As Chise thought about all the people she had met, she suddenly remembered about Elias. Chise's smile faded as she was worried that Elias was hurting himself. There was nothing she could do, except for hoping with all her heart that Elias wasn't hurting himself, wherever he was now.
Meanwhile, Elias had just arrived at a spot where he thought was good enough for what he had in mind. By now, Elias's whole body was shaking with rage as he was breathing heavily like a starving and savage animal. Elias's head was filled with images of his dead allies and friends. Elias was furious at how that now they were all nothing but mere play things for Cartaphilus and the Spell-Breaker to use as they pleased. Elias then fell to his knees as he grabbed the sides of his head as he started to feel himself losing control. ELias then decided that there was no pint in hiding his anger anymore. Elias then saw one more image of his dead friends and then he snapped.
"No! No! NOO! RAAAAAAAAGH!" Elias roared as he finally let go of his control.
Elias then morphed into his Pilum Murialis form and let out a loud long roar. destroying part of the forest that he was in. Elias then started destroying everything in his path. Elias grabbed a tree and then tore it out from the ground and smashed it hard against the ground. Elias then started to slash at the tree he had ripped out and then picked it up and threw it into another tree. Elias let out another roar as he raised a bunch of thorns from the ground and then sent them everywhere. Trees were destroyed, the ground ripped and tore open as Elias's thorns traveled through the forest. Elias then roared again as he started to slam his fists on the ground over and over until his hands bled. Elias then charged full speed at a tree and smashed right through it. This hurt Elias badly but he didn't care; he was too angry to care about his well-being. Elias stopped to take a breath as he looked around him. Elias roared again and then started to bash his head into a tree over and over before he moved on to punching a hole through the tree.
After doing a lot of damage to the surrounding forest, Elias heard the sound of growls coming from behind him. Elias turned around and saw a pack of 10 hideous looking fae creatures. Elias knew well what these were. They were known as Skull Wolves. Skull Wolves were vicious creatures that roamed through the forest looking for prey to kill and devour. They had the bodies of wolves that looked as if they had been starved for years. They looked so skinny that you could see the outlines of their rib cages. They had huge sharp claws that were used to rip and slice up flesh and meat off of any prey they could get to. The only thing that differentiated them from normal wolves was their heads. Skull Wolves had no skin or fur on their faces at all. All you could see was their skulls and of course their dark and scary red eyes. Not to mention that they had four eyes as well. They had huge long and sharp needle like teeth that was capable of chopping right through bone. They made noises that were nothing like that of a wolf. They would let out hisses like a snake and they would communicate with sounds that could only be described as that of someone with a high pitched voice gargling water in their throat. The only sound that was wolf-like was their loud howls that they would out during their hunt.
Elias growled at the Skull Wolves as they began to approach him, their mouths drooling out of hunger. Elias glared at the Skull Wolves as the alpha of the pack walked closer to Elias. Elias growled at the alpha as the alpha growled back at him. Then the two had a long roar off as they tried to intimidate each other. After the roar off, Elias quickly grabbed ahold of the alpha and threw him into a tree, knocking him out. Elias then turned to the remainder of the pack and roared at them. The pack roared back and began their assault. Two Skull Wolves jumped on Elias's back and hooked onto him using their claws. Elias roared as he tried to shake them off. As Elias was trying to shake off the wolves, another Skull Wolf lunged forward and bit down on Elias's right hand. Elias roared in pain as he threw the flung the wolf off his hand, causing the wolf to smack right into a tree, breaking its neck in the process. Elias then slammed his back against a tree, crushing the two wolves on his back to death. Another Skull Wolf bit down on Elias's left leg, causing Elias to stumble a bit. Elias roared as he shook the wolf off of his leg and then crushed its head by stomping down on it. Another Skull Wolf jumped at Elias but Elias grabbed it by the neck and then ripped the wolf clean in half. Two more wolves tried to go for Elias's neck, but Elias grabbed both of the Skull Wolves by the neck and smashed them so hard into each other that their skulls shattered and blood came spewing out. Another Wolf tried to bite Elias's other leg, but Elias moved his leg and then grabbed the wolf, pulling it to him and then Elias killed it by shoving his whole arm down the wolf's throat and ripping out its guts out of its mouth. Elias took a bite in the shoulder from the last wolf and roared in pain. Elias yanked the wolf off of him and the grabbed it by the ribs. Elias then ripped the wolf in half as he threw the body down. Elias was almost surprise attacked by the alpha who hadn't died, but Elias caught the alpha and then bit its head off, spiting the skull out. With all of the Skull Wolves dead, Elias let out one final roar before he collapsed to the ground in pain. After Elias had remained on the ground for a half an hour, he got back up on his feet and started to walk all the way back to the house, too angry and hurt to remember that he could just use his magic to get back home. It would take quite a while for Elias to make it back to the house.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Chise had long finished her bath and was now just sitting in the living room with Joseph.
"Joseph, what happened to your eye?" Chise asked as she saw Joseph's right eye was covered up with a bandage.
"Oh, this? When I was fighting Simon, he cut my eye open using some sort of icicle that came up out of the ground. Sucks, but, hey I'm not complaining that much. I'd rather lose my eye than lose my life." Joseph said.
"Simon really had ice magic?" Chise asked.
"Yep, apparently Cartaphilus gave each of the corrupted their own magic powers so that they could have a chance to stop us. I guess Simon got ice." Joseph said.
"I see." Chise said.
"Chise, you should have killed me. If you had, Cartaphilus and I wouldn't have gotten separated." Joseph said sadly.
"Joseph... I couldn't kill you. I couldn't do that to you." Chise said.
"Damn it. Why do you have to have such a kind heart? Why do you have to be so forgiving, Chise?" Joseph asked as he turned from the window to look at Chise. "If you had had a colder heart, I would be dead and none of this would've have happened." Joseph said.
"Joseph, this is not your fault." Chise said.
"Yes it is, Chise! If I had never spoken to Cartaphilus when he approached me, none of this would have happened. Ruth and the others would still be alive and not be those... corrupted things." Joseph said.
"Joseph, you may have made some mistakes in the past. But what's happening now, is not your fault. You're a good person, Joseph. I know that." Chise said as she gave Joseph a smile.
"(Sigh) Thank you, Chise. I guess I'm glad you have a good heart. Thanks for caring, Chise." Joseph said.
"Of course, Joseph." Chise said as they smiled at each other. "(Sigh) I hope he's okay." Chise said as she looked worried.
"Elias?" Joseph asked as Chise nodded. "Don't worry, I'm sure he's okay. He'll be back soon." Joseph reassured her.
"Thanks, Joseph." Chise said.
For the next hour or so, Chise spent most of her time speaking with Joseph and Silky as they waited for Elias to return from wherever he went off to. As time went on, Chise worried more and more for Elias. Chise hoped that Elias wouldn't run into the Spell-Breaker and she tried her best not to think about what could happen if Elias did encounter the Spell-Breaker. Chise also took sometime to think to herself bout just who could possibly be the Spell-Breaker. Chise thought hard but she just couldn't come up with any logical answers to who could be the Spell-Breaker. Chise was also very frustrated with herself as she was so close to seeing who the Spell-Breaker really was, only to have that satisfaction ripped away from her so quickly. Chise hoped that she would get another chance soon. A while later the sun began to set and there was still no sign of Elias anywhere.
Eventually, Silky had prepared a wonderful dinner for them so she called everyone over so they could eat. The food, as usual, was delicious as everyone ate their dinner quickly and happily. Once dinner was over, Chise went right back to the living room to look out the window and waited for any sign of Elias. It was getting darker and darker by the minute and the fact that Elias still hadn't shown up, made Chise very worried indeed. Soon, it was night time and after a little bit longer, Chise's waiting was interrupted by Silky tapping her on the shoulder. Silky motioned for Chise to head upstairs so she could get ready for bed but Chise just couldn't leave the spot she was in. Joseph had managed to convince Chise to change her mind as he promised her that the very moment he saw Elias, he would make sure he was alright and that he was perfectly safe. Chise reluctantly accepted this and decided to get ready to go to sleep.
Chise walked upstairs and changed into her pajamas as she got herself ready to sleep. Once Chise was ready she went to her room and shut the door behind her. However, before she turned in for the night, Chise decided that she would look out her window and wait to see if she could see Elias at all. Chise just wanted to go out and look for him, but even if she did, she had no idea where to start. After about 30 minutes of waiting and still no sign of Elias, Chise's eyelids started to grow heavy. Chise tried her best to stay awake, but eventually she fell back on her bed and drifted off to sleep. Of course, Chise didn't have any pleasant dreams that night. Chise kept waking up seemingly almost every 30 minutes as she kept on having horrible nightmares. Chise just couldn't stop seeing images of her dead friends as well as watching Ruth's death over and over. Chise tried her best to hold back her tears and her cries. She tried to remember Elias, Silky, and Joseph's words from earlier to keep herself calm but it just wasn't helping. The longer she laid there in her bed, the more and more feelings of guilt, anger, and sadness filled her heart.
Chise felt so alone and terrible. Chise didn't want this to keep happening. Chise shook in fear and sadness as she saw images of her fallen friends smiling at her with a happy smile, only for that image to be suddenly replaced by a terrible image of her fallen friends giving her a wicked and evil smile as they were corrupted. Chise was so scared, she didn't want to lose anyone else. Chise felt so afraid and terrified of her surroundings. Even though she knew she was safe in the house, she still felt so scared that something could happen at any moment. Every little noise scared her, even a noise as small as a bug flying into her bedroom window. Chise wished Elias could come back, what she wanted most was just to be in his arms again. Whenever, Elias held her, Chise just felt so safe, like nothing or no one could hurt her because Elias was there, holding her close to him, protecting her from everything that could harm her. Elias's warmth, Elias's scent, the sense of safety that Elias gave her, was all that Chise needed at this moment.
"Elias, where are you? Please come back... please." Chise said to herself as she tried to keep herself calm.
Around, elevon o'clock, Joseph was practically slapping himself in the face just so he could stay awake. Joseph himself was very annoyed and mad at Elias. He knew Elias had only left because he didn't want to scare Chise but he was taking way too long and he was making Chise worry so much. Joseph was prepared to give Elias a piece of his mind the moment he showed up. Joseph just kept standing by the window, keeping his sleepy eyes open to spot Elias. After about 15 more minutes, Joseph finally saw Elias walking very, very, very slowly to the house. This made Joseph so mad that he started to grind his teeth together. Joseph shook himself back into focus and then stormed out the front door.
"HEY! ASSHOLE! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!" Joseph yelled with such anger in his voice.
This made Elias very mad as he started to speed walk to Joseph. Elias was there in no time as he got a mere inches away from Joseph.
"Would you like to repeat yourself, Joseph?" Elias asked before Joseph punched him hard in the face.
"Elias... WHERE THE FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN!?" Joseph yelled.
"That doesn't concern you." Elias said.
"DON'T YOU DARE START THIS CRAP! Where have you been!? You've had Chise worried all day! I can hear her from downstairs, poor girl can't get any sleep! She probably keeps having nightmares about what happened today! And what do you do!? You just walk away from her for so fucking long! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" Joseph yelled.
Elias said nothing as he took in what Joseph had just told him.
"What wrong? You want to kill me? Go ahead then tough guy, kill me! We'll see what Chise has to say about my death in the morning." Joseph said, showing no fear whatsoever.
"I have no intention of killing you Joseph. Now, I am going inside." Elias said.
However, right as Elias was about to keep moving forward, Joseph took out his sword and pointed it at Elias, getting in a battle stance. Elias was surprised at this as he did not expect this at all.
"You're not going anywhere, until you use one of your healing spells to heal yourself. Chise has been through enough and has seen enough today. I don't need her seeing you covered in blood and I know for a fact that some of those wounds are self-inflicted." Joseph said coldly.
Elias again said nothing as he just used his magic to heal up his wounds from his fight with the Skull Wolves. Once Elias was healed enough, Joseph finally put his sword back in its sheath and was at ease. Then, Elias and Joseph made their way back inside the house. Once the door was shut, Joseph spoke up to Elias.
"Alright, go, Chise really needs you right now. Goodnight Elias." Joseph said as he walked away to go to bed.
"Good night, Joseph." Elias said as Joseph walked away.
Elias then looked up at the ceiling, hoping that Chise was okay, although he knew she probably wasn't. Elias looked around to see if anyone else was awake and from the looks of it, he was the only one still up in the house. Elias walked up the stairs and stood outside of Chise's bedroom. Elias didn't know whether to knock or not but he decided not to as he slowly opened the bedroom door. As Elias looked into the room, he saw that Chise was no doubt in the middle of another bad dream. Elias couldn't let this keep happening so he walked over to Chise and kneeled down beside the bed. Elias then carefully put his hand on Chise's shoulder and gently shook her to wake her up.
"Chise, Chise." Elias said as he tried to wake her up as gently as he could.
Unfortunately, Chise's nightmare had woken her up rather than Elias's gentle approach.
"No!" Chise cried as she woke up in a sweating and terrified mess.
"Chise, it's alright. I'm right here." Elias said.
"Huh? Elias? Elias!" Chise cried as she hugged Elias tightly, almost crying.
"I'm sorry I kept you waiting. Joseph gave me quite the talk when I arrived. I am sorry, Chise. Can you forgive me?" Elias asked.
"Elias, of course I can forgive you. But, where were you?" Chise asked.
"I was just somewhere in the forest." Elias said.
"Why did you go there? I thought you had to run an errand?" Chise asked.
"I lied. I only said that because I didn't want you to know what I was really doing. I was losing control of myself again so I had to leave. I didn't want to hurt you or scare you." Elias explained.
"Oh, I see. Well, I'm so glad that you're back, Elias." Chise said as she gave Elias a smile.
"Of course. Well, It is time for the both of us to get some sleep. Come my bride, I will hold you close to me." Elias said as he scooped up Chise in his arms and picked her up.
Elias then carried Chise to his room and placed her gently in his bed. Elias then walked behind his cover up wall and changed into his sleeping clothes. Elias then climbed into bed gently next to Chise. As soon as Elias was in the bed, Chise hugged him tightly. Elias could sense that Chise was trying so hard to hold in her tears. Elias knew that it was probably best for Chise if she just let it all out.
"Chise, do not be afraid. It is okay to cry. I believe that it is good for you humans to let certain emotions out when they have to be let out. Go ahead, Chise. It's alright. I'm here for you, I'll always be here for you." Elias said as he gently rubbed Chise's back.
With that, Chise broke down in tears. Chise cried into Elias's chest as she let out all of her sadness. Chise sobbed as she remembered all of her beloved friends that were now dead. Chise cries were painful for Elias to listen to, but he knew this was good for her. It was good to let it all out. As Chise kept on crying, Elias looked out his window and hoped that this would all be over soon. After all, there wasn't anything else he could do. All he could do, is hope for the best.
That was chapter 17, it was a sad one of mourning. I hope you all enjoyed