A/N: So, I recently got a new job. The pros are the money (of course), but the cons are my increasingly slow updates for this fic. Now, I'm not saying it will be on a hiatus anytime soon. But considering I will be back in college soon, I really don't think I can keep up this update pace. I will see if I can publish monthly again, but there's a chance the updates will happen every two months from the moment I get back to studying.
~Kalafinn
Aisha wanted to get out, now more than ever. She could not bear another day with demons and gaze upon death so close and so frequently. Elsword was pressing them into a hopeless mission, and she wanted none of it. Not until she found the ring of Mimir again. She continued to teleport further and further south, hoping to reach the coast Elsword had mentioned before, but the same section of forest appeared in front of her time and time again. Eventually, her mana ran out, and she threw her wand to the same cursed roots in a fit of rage.
"Damn it all! I'd let an army of hungry trocks destroy these damn ruins if it would get me out!"
Tears clouded her eyes, and she knelt down, punching the invisible magical barrier that kept her prisoner with a group of freaks. She was already fifteen and praised as a genius even among the Landars until that ruthless fiend took the ring that would prove to all of Sander and beyond that the rumours of her skills were true.
Thinking about how her journey had taken her to this cursed death trap only made her rage greater. Everyone she had ever met since she left Sander had never taken her seriously even if that was only what she deserved. She would have thought that at least Hamelians would treat geniuses like her as they ought to be treated, but here she was. Aisha threw a fireball at a nearby bush, feeling a sudden surge of a familiar power rush through her veins.
This was it. This was the sensation of her full potential once again unleashed into nature itself. She looked at her finger, but there was no ring on it. Instead, the clear sound of metal chiming over the stones around her grabbed her power-hungry gaze to the weak shining of a silver ring. This was the ring she had been looking for, and it just rolled over this world. Perhaps that man had dropped it here beyond these forests. He had no way to get in, but if she grabbed the ring, she would have the power to get out and make him taste just a fraction of the humiliation she had gone through for the past year and a half.
The young mage crouched and reached for the artifact she had been coveting for long, long months, but something was different about it. For a moment, she felt overwhelming dark magic overflow from Mimir's ring. She stopped herself and used her staff to analyze the object more carefully. Just then, the soft paw of an animal took the ring away.
"Whoops! Sorry, I really shouldn't have dropped this here." the fluffy giant said.
It wore a torn-up blue rags with stripes that somewhat resembled the uniform Elsword wore. Its fur looked so fluffy it was huggable, had it not been by the rusty sword it carried behind its back and the oddly high-pitched voice it had. It sounded a bit too quiet for a being that size.
"That ring is mine." she coldly said to the creature.
The adorable phoru looked at the ring and stared at her for half a minute. Then, it smiled. It was an odd smile. The phoru did not show its teeth but rather its rodent mouth stretched into a vague curve that could have been a growl if the creature did not giggle.
"Alright, little creature, but in exchange...will you do something for me?"
Aisha could have sworn something in its eyes shifted, but the gleam in it had something extremely friendly about it. The Phoru was unlike the other ones; its face was as trustworthy as a puppy's. It was the complete opposite of the long, almost cadaveric rat faces of its kind, and its fur did not even hold the faintest blemish of mud or claw scars.
Even though those signs should have put her in high alert, Aisha's mind was already succumbing to the charm of the Phoru who was as tall as two soldiers.
"...Sure thing."
The giant Phoru nodded with its timid smile. "Very well, little girl...I need you to kill the demoness and bring to me the Celestial...Guide him to the crypt's entrance. You follow?"
Aisha knew who the demoness was, but there was no one in their group that was a Celestial. She had never heard the word before unless it referred to the old gods of Sander. That certainly could not be what the creature meant, but she wished to do what the Phoru commanded. "I don't know who the Celestial is..."
A bang echoed through the forest, and a mana bullet pierced some invisible field over the creature's fur, barely grazing and burning the tips of its fluffy fur. It was then where the charm was broken, and Aisha noticed the strange ripples of magic that surrounded the Phoru. She took her wand but still could not bring herself to attack the innocent-looking spirit just yet.
The spirit's calmness distorted with a hiss that screamed of death as it covered its face with its soft paws. The Phoru's paws were growing less soft, bringing the smell of rotting flesh with them as the softness peeled off to reveal sharp and curve long claws sullied by dried mud and dying leaves. The mage clenched her staff firmly into her hands, forcing the mana circuits at the tip of her fingertips to take in the mana that the Phoru's broken spell was liberating.
It only took two seconds for a painted wood mask to become visible to her, fractured by the mana bullet that had almost made its way in-between the eyes of the undead beast in front of her. The more it screamed in pain, the more it seemed that its cries were human. Aisha stepped back as the phoru swung its sharp, poisoned claws blindly. The creature put one of its paws over the mask that was slipping down its snout and leapt back, fleeing into the thick forest until its fur and blue rags lost themselves into hundreds of leaves. Its cries, however, still echoed within the quiet forests for a good minute.
The young Sanderian mage heard leaves being crushed behind her and turned around to see both Ciel and Elsword running up towards her. Elsword was visibly angered, and it was always hard for her to figure out what the blue-haired gunslinger thought.
"Finally, we found you," the young knight panted as his dash came into a halt.
"I noticed," she replied, frowning, "I can't even have some alone time without having you guys ruin it."
"This is not a place for alone time, Aisha. You were inches away from being attacked."
The mage rolled her eyes. "I suppose I should thank you, oh my saviour! What could I have done all alone against such a monster that wished me no harm before you shot it in the face?"
The gunslinger frowned but did not respond to Aisha's taunts. "Sure. Let's just head back and plan a way out."
"Well, I just had one before you came in guns blazing, Ciel. I suppose my saviour is against letting me get us out of this place." She shrugged and forced her way beyond the two adventurers, throwing a last glare at Ciel. "I can't believe people of Lanox are as close-minded as those from a nobody village of Lurensia."
She lifted her wand, but Elsword yanked back her shoulder. "Hey! what's your-"
"Do you really think that a masked Phoru wished you no harm? You're not a mage who would be dumb enough to fall for that, are you?"
Aisha remained silent for a couple of seconds, getting out of Elsword's grip. "Are you implying that I'm dumber than you?"
"Based on what I just saw, maybe you are!"
"Well, I wasn't going to take their bait! I knew all along that there was dark magic at work."
Elsword, instead of reacting with another retort, deepened his frown. "Then we should get going."
"Oh? Are you finally recognizing my superior talent?"
Some shadows began to gather in front of them, silently, but menacingly.
Ciel was quick to notice this and the growing tension between the two kid's stares. They were in no position to fight, and even if they were, the risks were far too great. The half-demon grabbed them both by their wrists, forcing them to follow him. "You're right. We should not stay here. More Phorus could be on their way. Let's talk about this back at the camp."
"Why are you grabbing me like harpy fodder?! Let me go! I can teleport myself back on my own!" Aisha argued, but even she had no way out of Ciel's grip.
Begrudgingly, the two teens followed Ciel back, too busy throwing daggers at each other to notice why the half-demon had insisted they leave.
Just beyond the field, many Phorus watched them go, their claws, sticks and stones ready to attack.
They were not ordered to follow the group. Not yet. Lua's hunt was over for now.
The spirits dispersed and followed their way back to the crypt where their leader awaited. Two of them took the fractured mask and went away, far from the eyes of the force that had invoked them. Instead, they escaped to where Banthus was.
Ainchase had found his calm after the first half of the day passed by without him vanishing. By some ironic flick of luck, the few times the demoness had glanced over at the weak shine of his most weakened form were enough to tie him into the material realm. She realized something or someone was there, although she could never keep her focus on him for long. The Celestial could only hope Rena would wake up soon, since she was the one who was most likely to reform a more solid bond between him and the world he did not quite belong to. As much as he wanted to hope, he could only drift in and out of consciousness for hours at a time, hoping that, when he woke up, he would still be in Elrios.
It was easy for him to know if he was still in the land of his mission, given the kind of place they were in. As long as he felt the curse try to reach him from outside, kept at bay by Rena's barrier, Ainchase dared to hope that he could gather his strength and materialize as a human once more. Although he was aware of everything around him, time in this form came closer to that of the realm of the goddess. It was slower, almost at a standstill while his mind was overflowing with ideas. The more he kept himself conscious, the more his mind would make the slow passage of time unbearable.
He used sparingly the power of the dozen El Shards they had brought with them to maintain himself focused for short lapses of time. It would have been easier to remain in a lethargic state, but the events of the few hours or minutes after he came back worried him. Ainchase deemed it as good enough of a reason to stay conscious and think on ways the group could overcome what he and Rena could not. Unlike the elf, he could muster enough strength to remain awake despite his grievous injuries.
Still, he could not abuse the energy the shards held. Now that the shard they were after was long gone, the Plague could swipe the defences they had left against the monster in the crypts. The three pocket shards the group had used for purifying the water of nearby brooks were turning violet. The threat lurking around them probably knew that and was just playing with them until their only shield was too weak to be of any help. Ainchase could only theorize plans of attack when he was in this form. But he had to stay awake longer to see how the events turned out.
Even if he could not be of any help now, Ainchase wished to know for sure if their chances of winning in a last and fast offence were not growing fainter. A battle of attrition would doom them. They had lost every skirmish until now and he had no idea how any of them could face such an overwhelming force. The Celestial wandered near the food supplies they had left and noticed they only had ten health potions and sixteen mana ones. It would be imperative for the group to find food if they did not want to starve later on in their journey. From what he had seen, these ruins were not bursting with food. A few wild berries would perhaps be all they had, and that scarcity would play against them. He noticed that the demoness was looking where he was before turning her attention back to Rena. The elf groaned in pain as Lu put her dislocated shoulder back in place. The pain woke the elf for a minute and, in a daze, she managed to utter part of a question.
"Lu...how is…?"
"Rena, everyone is fine, don't worry. It's a miracle you made it mostly back here on your own. Rest. Do you want some poppies to chew?"
The elf shook her head. "No...he brought me back..."
Lu frowned and took out from the supplies the remaining poppies she had used to heal her wounds before. Although her back was still scarred, Lu seemed in full control of her pain.
"Well, Rena, Elsword and Aisha brought you back. But you were alone before. I'll make you rest if I must, you need to heal."
"But he was there..."
Ainchase stopped scrambling about the group's belongings and got closer to the two women. This, under normal circumstances, would be completely unexpected, but the elf had seen his spiritualism form clearer than any other mortal would see it under normal circumstances. Ishmael's servant figured it had to do with the strong ties to the El and magic itself that the Ruben forests had. In any other village or region, even Rena might have forgotten how she got out alive. What had hurt them all so badly was oddly the one thing that could help him forge ties strong enough to accomplish his mission without fearing of disappearing back into the world of the Goddess and face Her wrath. Yet, once he succeeded, Ainchase doubted Ishmael would be happy given how much he had transgressed her rules.
"Yes, Elsword was there, and he brought you back. He'll be back in a moment."
"No...Ain..."
The glow he was made of began to grow brighter and in size until he could materialize in his human form. His wounds made him suffer, and although he still had the bandages Elsword had put on him, blood was moisting them, leaving more stains over his white clothes. He did not expect her to remember his name so clearly when she barely could keep herself awake, but that also made the tangibility of his existence even more uncertain. Out of all the people he had met, his mission now depended on the person closest to death. He could not afford to waste even a second now. He was too weak to show his spiritualism form to anyone else, and even he was not as desperate to let a foul demon figure out what he was. Those creatures deserved nothing from him, but he had to make an exception now that his survival rested on the fleeting memories of mortals. The goddess had not given him any strength until now, and maybe, in this kind of place, even she could not reach him.
Luciela stared at him, blinking a couple of times in silence before she pointed a finger at him. "How...did you just...appear out of thin air?"
Ainchase laid slowly down on his right side, where the pain was more bearable and shook his head. Rena's consciousness was already fading away. He figured he did not have more than fifteen minutes before being forced to being a forgettable orb of light again. "I don't have much time. I can't waste it explaining things you do not need to understand, demon."
He created a blade of mana and began carving his writing on the soil around him. His mind was strangely clear as he remembered each turn he took the previous night. Ishmael's servant could picture and draw everything so clearly from memory alone that it made him wonder if it was the last thing he would do in Elrios. Even if what he was going to do displeased the goddess, he could no longer ignore that the success of his mission now completely depended on whether or not the group of mortals he travelled with survive as well. They had to live in order for his ultimate mission to succeed. The El was slipping out of their reach and from then on...he could only wonder how harder his journey would be.
"Even when I have to go...you'll still have this to-"
"Ain! You're reopening your wounds! What are you doing?" Elsword's voice rang over the distance. The boy crouched besides the priest and tried to force him down, but Ainchase still kept writing on the ground, finding the strength with his other arm to push Elsword back.
"I'm leaving you with what you have to do to fight her back. The sooner you go and find what I could not, the sooner you'll all be out."
"Wait, Ain...we're not letting you fall behind! Lowe sent us all, remember? We have to come back to him together!"
"I will come back if Rena makes it out with you. She's the safest here, so, whatever you do, do not take her anywhere until you defeated..."
Ain coughed painfully and spat some blood on the ground. Ciel looked over what the priest was desperately writing and was surprised to see a detailed map of some kind of underground facility with keywords and arrows pointing at traps. Some other sentences were written around the map, but Ciel could not make out what they were, as his carrier as a local mercenary had not let him learn written Elrian. But even so, he could tell that anyone reading it would have a hard time distinguishing which of the shaky traits of each symbol were the good ones and which were made because of Ain's physical strain.
Ain's hand was trembling, and his breath was shallow as he finished the sentence over the top of his map. The blade shattered soon after that and a flash of light blinded everyone for three seconds. Only a flickering light remained, which plummeted to the ground as if it was heavier than lead. For a moment, the Celestial thought this was his end of his mission. An utter failure. But even as hours, days passed by, he still could see the others slowly sit down, talking too fast for how slow their movements were. He could understand them, but he wondered for how long. From here, he could barely glance up to see their faces and even that required him to use more El energy.
As limiting as it was, he listened to the group step towards the thing that he had drawn.
"Hey, Lu...did you make this?" Aisha asked, her feet looming over what he had written. The demoness crossed her legs and remained silent for a long time.
Elsword stepped next to Aisha to take a closer look at the map and crouched to see it closely. He passed his fingers over the dried blood Ainchase had left on the mud. His ankles turned slightly, perhaps to face Rena and Lu, and he asked the demoness if Rena had woken up.
"Briefly, yes, but not for enough time to draw something like that. You would have certainly seen her get up and write this."
The demoness clapped once and got up, gathering Aisha's attention. "What, did you finally figure it out?"
The small blue boots made their way to the map, and locks of white hair grazed the ground. "I felt some strange energy around this spot. Whatever spell this was, it hid this map. I do not know enough written Elrian to read nor write half of what is carved here."
Ciel's worn leather boots stepped next to Lu's and he crouched with her, his gunblades carving small cuts on the ground. "Well, someone had to do it. It can't be a ghost."
The magician put her shield over the ground and Lu jumped over the map, taking care to land on the other side. While her landing was sloppy and she landed on her knees, the demon countess only groaned softly in pain. Ciel followed her with a rushed pace before kneeling behind her.
"Lu, you're still hurt. Don't do stunts like that because one of your wounds has reopened."
"We've both been through worse, Ciel. It's what's written here that worries me. What I can barely read, anyhow. Whoever wrote this says that the force that trapped us all in would kill us if we don't strike it out fast."
Aisha kicked dirt over the blood, sullying Elsword's hand with it. "You're considering taking what is here seriously? There's enough danger all around for it to be a trap in itself."
Elsword glared at the mage and took his hand off. "It would be pretty dumb for a trap to point out all the hidden traps inside an underground...mouseolim...maisonlum..."
"Mausoleum?" Lu guessed.
"Hmm...yeah, Lu. Never heard that word before, but the runes match that pronunciation. It says that the spirit who sent us here can control the dead inside the crypts at her will."
The demoness pointed at the entrance and drew a line over the long corridors he had drawn as she spoke again. "So, we are dealing with the dead. Elven dead. No wonder the strength of the magic around us is so overwhelming."
Ainchase was intrigued by how the demon countess had guessed part of the danger based on shaky sketches and barely enough knowledge of the Elrian lingua franca to know that. Aisha was the one to voice his surprise. "And you know that how? No, actually, let me keep saying that trusting something that appeared here out of nowhere is downright stupid. Let's assume you're right. It's still too convenient to be here. Wouldn't this be only an invitation to a trap?"
The Celestial wished to be human again to slap some sense into the purple-haired brat, but that wish was short-lived as he noticed that he was draining the remaining pure energy from the third shard. He'd have to sleep again until those mortals made it or died. Ainchase would know the outcome one way or the other, that much was clear to him.
Luciela glanced at the small orb of light next to Rena and looked back at Aisha. The girl made some sense, but not in this case. Not when she had seen how that priest had materialized and vanished right before her eyes. She was not sure what exactly he was, but telling everyone of something the priest himself would not explain seemed beneath her. The demoness also thought that even if she told everyone, no one would believe her. Plus, perhaps Ain was better off as an orb of light instead of suffering through the pain of injuries that would not heal overnight.
"I would trust this map, Aisha. It was made with imprecise traits, the blood near it is not an illusion and is most likely from a human, as far as my senses can tell. Magic was hiding it from your sight before I uncovered it." She got up and glanced up to the mage. While she was a head and a half smaller than that Aisha, she could still make her shut up with a stare. "Or does your genius see something fake in this traits? Can you see magic that a demon that has lived more than quintuple your grandparents' lives cannot? If so, go ahead and tell us."
Aisha stepped back and shook her head. She spoke with a quiet voice, "No. And that's what worries me. I saw the entrance to this and..." her voice cracked until it became a whisper, "the dark magic that flows from there is beyond anything I have ever seen. Knowing that this note is here only tells me that we are not the first here, and we will probably not be the last to disappear if we go and fight whatever lurks inside."
She clenched her staff in her hands and hovered over the small paragraph that read: 'The spirit is patient and will wait until all your barriers won't hold anymore. Even if they are held by El shards. You must not wait for her to come to you. Attack while you can.'
"There has to be another way to get out. Going in there is too risky. We could figure a way to break the barrier just like Rena did."
Elsword shook his head. "Going to the boundaries is dangerous as well, Aisha," he said as he explained what he and Ciel had seen Aisha doing. Lu's eyes widened.
"That is as worrying as what could await us in that mausoleum. Or perhaps even more. If those masks can hypnotize one of us, even momentarily-"
"I was not hypnotized by such a weak creature!" the mage barked.
"I beg to differ," Ciel calmly said. "You almost accepted an offer to kill Lu and lure some...man in exchange for a rusty ring."
"How in the El's grace did you hear that when you were so far away?! Curse your superhuman senses, Ciel!" Aisha groaned with childish rage and rushed to lie underneath her covers, although it was obvious she was not tired enough to sleep when the sun was still at its zenith. Luciela asked Ciel for more details on what he had heard, and as she heard what had happened, she initially did not find the words to answer with. Her eyes glanced again at the weak orb of light that slept peacefully over the supply bag.
"Lu, is something wrong with the supplies?" Elsword asked.
The demon countess shook her head. "Well, not really. I was just thinking that we are running short of health potions. I think that whether it is possible for us to win a direct combat or not, we will be weakened by hunger soon enough."
"None of our options are good, are they?" the young knight continued.
Ciel nodded as he sat over his covers. "We are being driven to a corner no matter how we look at it. What we have here, though, is information. It might come from the...Celestial person that Masked Phoru wanted Aisha to lure to this cemetery."
"Lu, do you know who a Celestial is?" Elsword asked.
Luciela combed strands of her hair back as she prepared herself to lie about it. The pieces she had to figure out what exactly the priest was hiding were coming together. Yet, revealing such truth to others might paint a target on Ciel's and her back. Demons held a grudge against Ishmael and any of the spirits who served under her orders. If any of the assassins that chased her out of Fluone found out that she was travelling with a Celestial, they might even call Sult himself to kill Ciel in an agonizing way right before her eyes.
The demoness asked Elsword to read everything that was written on the map. According to the map, the spirit that haunted the place was three floors underground and appeared to be a forest elf slowly turning into a dark elf. While both Elsword and Ciel seemed confused about this, Luciela knew that elves could become 'corrupted', but she could not answer them how it happened. That was beyond her knowledge. As Elsword continued reading the shaky traits, the demoness's expression darkened.
Not only was their foe capable of controlling the corpses around her, but she could jump from one to another and summon a suffocating mist. What the author theorized, however, was that the elven woman did not appear in her real body. Finding her corpse and injuring it grievously would be the only shot they had to kill her and free themselves from the citadel.
"This is impossible," Ciel sighed, "if the elf is capable of using all the corpses in her favour, it'd be impossible to stall a skirmish in a closed space like this one. Not to mention that those corpses can appear underneath our feet. How would we find out the real corpse anyway? They're all bones."
Elsword frowned, holding his sword close in his hands. "It seems that way, but no matter how small, we have a shot at this. I don't know much about magic, but if that spirit is tied to a single corpse, it wouldn't be impossible for Aisha to trace it with magic, would it?"
Everyone turned towards the mage and stared at her for a long time Lu was the first to break the silence. "It would be possible, yes. Aisha, you are the one who wants to get out of here the most, aren't you?"
"I won't go into that place. No way. You guys have not seen it up close, but I have. We'll all be deader than unarmed Caluso children in a trock village if we step close to it."
"Aisha, not sure if you listened, but no matter what we do, we'll be as dead as whatever you compared us to." Elsword replied. "We have one shot at actually making it out alive and you chicken out? You'd find it better to die of hunger and alone instead of using your magical talent to help us? Is that what being a First Class Elemental Mage is about? Abandoning your fellow adventurers to their luck when you could've been the difference between living and dying?"
Luciela could not help but smile at Elsword's tirade. It was rare she saw him take charge of anything, but he was getting increasingly better at it. Even if it was only to try to bring together the most unruly member of their group, the boy had a spark of potential as a leader. However, the demoness could not help but wonder if his harsh tone would always work to warm Aisha up to the idea of helping them. Rena had that motherly attitude she could not replicate to calm the fiery nature of the two kids in their group.
While the two humans yelled back and forth among one another, Ciel took place by her side. A glance from him let her know that he wished to talk to her in private. They watched the two kids continue to argue, inches away from punching one another, oblivious to anything else that was happening around them. They were in their own chaotic, little world, calling themselves names that were only getting more and more ridiculous.
The demon countess got up and walked a few trees beyond the camp. They were still close enough to the kids to watch over them, but they were far enough to not be overheard by the rest of the group.
"You're hiding something, Lu."
The demoness took a deep breath. Sometimes, she wished Ciel was less direct with his suspicions, but she would not change that bluntness for anything else. If anything, that was what made her trust him even more. Ciel could hardly keep his thoughts to himself when they had to do with her in any shape or form.
"Yes, and I am doing it for safety reasons."
The blue-haired mercenary looked at her with some pain in his eyes. "I have not heard that one since Sander."
She smiled sadly at what he was implying. Back when they had just barely made it out of Lanox, she had figured out what kind of demon she was and who was chasing after her. Even if she had made the contract with him before then, she still refused to tell him that she was part of the nobility, fearing he might try to go after her power as well.
"This is different, Ciel. It's because I trust you more than anyone else that I cannot tell you. I'd be putting us in incredible danger if the wrong person got word of it."
"You know I can keep secrets, Lu."
The demoness nodded and rested her head over Ciel's chest, hugging him softly. "I know, Ciel. But I am afraid that if this one thing gets out of my lips, we'll be putting everyone in even greater danger. Who knows if this spirit is not under the influence of some high-ranking demon."
Ciel returned her embrace, covering mostly her shoulders and back with his forearms. "I did not sense any demonic energy since we've been here. Even if Berthe knew you were around back there, no demon has come for us since you saved Elsword. We're safe now."
Luciela wished that things stayed that way forever, but every time they found peace, it would only be temporary. Yet, she had no reason to cut those peaceful days short. "Ciel, many demons have mastered necromancy and other dark arts. I cannot ignore that possibility. I don't want to paint a target on us now that we have not been chased by any other demons for months."
Her servant patted her head. "Alright, Lu.", he whispered, "But even if the assassins come back, I'll protect you."
Although his intentions brought a smile to her face, she would feel better if she could do that for him instead. He had risked a lot when she did not remember anything, and, while the contract saved him, Luciela wished to protect Ciel with her own power instead of the other way around. As the Steel Queen, she could not picture a moment where she would let a friend this close to her continue risking his life while she passively waited to be rescued.
She pushed herself away from Ciel, and it only took a glance at the two teens to notice they were already growing tired of their almost playful fight. They were laying on their respective covers, only glaring at each other and muttering what could only be insults in their respective dialects.
"For the El's sake! Can you stop that annoying nasal nonsense you're muttering?!" Elsword suddenly barked.
"Excuse you?! It's you who should stop those exaggerated rolled r's when you speak your nonsense!"
"I'll stop my nonsense when you come with us to fight!"
"Good! I'll stop mine when you stop trying to force me to die in seconds!"
And just as they decided that, they continued to mutter insults against one another in their own dialects. Lu shook her head at the desperate stalemate they were in. Everything she had thought about Elsword as a leader was fading away. He was still an immature kid, and only time could tell if his few sparks of leadership would forge themselves or die.
Ciel chuckled a bit at the ridiculous show the two were putting on, but he did not say a word about it. Luciela, on her end, noticed that Rena was half-awake due to the pain of her wounds and perhaps the loudness of the two kids. She glared at them and crossed her arms, waiting until they would notice her. Only a minute passed before the anger of the two had faded to let through a mild concern.
"If you both want to keep arguing, fine. Just tone it down so Rena can rest while I treat her. Don't be inconsiderate."
"Y-yes, Lu." they replied in unison.
The darkness of the crypts was only familiar to her and Rena. Lua walked through the most prestigious crypts, those reserved for the most important elders. It was a corridor where all the tombs were hidden underneath statues that replicated each elder, sitting on a stone throne. At the end of the corridor, the mythical First Elder sat in a richer throne than the rest. Her gaze was fixed on the front, frowning slightly and holding her bow firmly within her hands. Had Lua been anyone else, the magic that had once enchanted this place would have dissuaded her from entering.
But Lua was the new ruler of the graves that housed hundreds upon hundreds of souls. The Darkness had given her a crown and, now, the only thing she needed was a throne. The elven woman approached the statue and put her hand over the bow of stone. The mist gathered around her grasp and dissolved the weapon into sand. Lua punched a hole through the First Elder's face, her joints burning at the small amount of pure energy that the shock liberated. The pain fueled her anger and she threw one punch after another, chipping away stone fragments from the statue until the coffin underneath was visible.
She prepared herself to throw another punch, but there was something strange about the coffin. It held two corpses: one hidden by magic her mist could not dissolve and another one underneath it. Lua made her teeth and jawbones creak in anger before sitting over her distorted throne. The Celestial had dared to throw her out of her best shell, but she had hundreds of Phorus, Golems and Fairy Knights at her disposal. Capturing him and consuming his power would be enough to retrieve her long-lost beauty.
"William," she called. It only took her mist a minute to teleport her most recent servant in front of her. William did not have his mask anymore. "What happened to my precious gift to you?"
The Phoru shook his head and knelt down, putting his paws over the two heads from where he spoke. His snout twisted in a soft growl as the head of the first human began to wail. "I cannot...harm him. Elsword should not have followed."
Lua frowned, letting the Darkness overflow from her as other phorus gathered to silently inform her of what they had seen. "You had the mage in your grasp. I told you, if your illusion fails, kill them. That's what bandits do to adventurers."
The second head groaned. "I'm not a bandit! I'm Liam Jenkins! A sworn knight!"
"Liam?", the head to the left perked up, trying to glance with its rotten eyes towards the other head. "You there, nay?"
"Will?"
"Enough!" Lua barked before letting her mist consume the Phoru once again. The two human heads screeched in pain before quieting down. "You are William. A Phoru bandit that works for me. Do you understand your role?"
"Yes," the two heads replied in unison. Their voices were monotone, and their eyes were filled once more with the magic that stopped their souls from playing outside of their role as William.
"You failed to turn one of them to your side, so, what will you do when you meet them again?"
"I kill them."
The lilac light in her eye sockets grew brighter and if she had not been a skeleton, that glow would have been reflected by a satisfied smile on her face. "And you bring me the broken mask."
The heads shifted around the Phoru's head, taking the place of his eyes instead. "That I cannot do," Will's head began.
"Two of them took it away," Liam's head continued, "Far from this grave, beyond what we can see."
The glow inside Lua's eye sockets burned with rage. "Then, you'll play with those adventurers until they can enter this place and be my eternal friends. Get out."
William vanished within the mist she controlled as she took it to the entrance of her domain. Once all of her servants were gone, she looked once more at the amulet that hung from her bones. It was incredible that a human possessed such a precious artifact, let alone that any of his ancestors were given one in the first place. But with it, she could channel easily all her power throughout the forest and even beyond. While she could only control the citadel, there was a barrier she could not break.
The best she could do was to lure in small groups of people with spirits that could cross the barrier. It had taken her hundreds of autumns, but she was confident that with her current power and this amulet, she could break free from the hidden cell before she killed the weakest of her prey. Usually, she would target them first, but considering the advantage she had in numbers and the little teamwork the group had, taking out the strongest was the fastest route.
Lua chuckled. She had already gotten two of them, and the remaining two were no longer in top shape to fight her with all they had. What little joy she had felt at the thought of getting rid of the demons vanished at a sudden realization: the mask was gone. She had put enough of her power in it to fear that whoever got it would become a wheel that she would never control fully. A day with the mask missing was a day where the mask could be studied or, even worse, replicated.
Lua had made a choice. She would get the Celestial's power as soon as night fell and break free, expanding her citadel until she could get those who had stolen the mask away from her.
Banthus still roamed around the dense forests, living on the provisions he had been left with by his men. He could have stayed in the same place, but seeing nature's decay slow down around the shard made him think that he was wasting the jewel's power.
The former captain had made it to the peak of a hill. From there, he could see the clear waters of White Mist Swamp in the horizon. A week's walk from there was the Shadow Forests of Elder and, most importantly, the cave he had taken as a hideout with his men. The route he was on was far from the shortest route to Elder, but he would not have it any other way. He had never been one to believe in the old folk tales about Phorus or elves who inhabited the forest. Now that he could see those rat-like spirits clearly and saw for himself the horror that an elf could cause, Banthus had quickly changed his mind about the quiet, almost invisible spirits that hid inside Ruben's forests.
In that underground chamber, he had the impression that only a few days had passed since he was freed, but the sun set faster outside of the ruins than inside it. He took a dried leaf from the ground and the small layer of ice that made it glisten under the morning sun. He frowned at it. He had at most three weeks to figure out a way to retrieve phorus and give them their humanity back. There was a story that spoke about the Ancient Phoru. The beast had been born with the Tree of El, protecting it as its sole guardian, or so the legends said. Banthus figured that he could find a lot more phorus and return them to their human nature before angering the Ancient Phoru.
The imposing swordsman put back his belongings on the bags his horse carried and began slowly making his way downhill, down an old beaten path that often narrowed just enough to let a horse through. Wally would not like to know that he had sold the carriage and most of the horses to farmers, but this road was isolated from any main ways at this point. They only joined after circling the Swamp. As Banthus left the hill, two phorus approached him, each carrying a part of a wooden mask. The man recognized the two because of the yellow bandanas they carried around their necks; a courtesy he had given them after giving them two health potions for their injuries five days ago.
"Oh, this is a nice surprise," the giant man said, stopping the horse before turning to face the two spirits. Now that he could only see through one eye, Banthus was even more careful in his travels. "Is that a thank you gift?"
The bony Phorus looked at each other and put each part of the mask over their faces. The strange arabesques over it began to glow with the El. Banthus took a while to glance at it and see the strange magic at work himself, the glow became so intense that he was forced to close his eyes. Once the intense blue glow had faded away, there were two small men standing where the two Phorus were before. They were barely tall enough to be children, but the fragmented masks had adapted to cover their faces. The big wood mask was now two smaller wooden wolf masks.
"You...where did you find that mask?"
The two dwarves looked at each other and pointed to the south-west, where the main roads were. "Lua's...citadel."
Their voices were not as high-pitched to be those of children, but perhaps they were only teens before they were turned into monsters by that witch. Banthus frowned at the elf's cruelty, but he did not let his mind be stuck back into what Lua had done to him back then. "Say, there are others like you in the White Mist Swamp, yes?"
The two yellow-clothed masked men nodded. "The Ancient One would greet you. Joyfully."
That brought a frown to his front. "Hey, hey. I don't think that's how Ancient spirits would react. I'll be taking you back to your human form, so he'd be pretty mad about it, wouldn't he? I'm doing it regardless, but..."
The two masked teens looked at each other again, and the one to his right spoke for the first time on his own. "Loneliness is nothing but his nature. Our nature as humans is not complete. The Ancient One is the only Phoru there should ever be in these forests."
Banthus scoffed. "Well, that makes this job even easier. Lua might be a true monster, but we'll undo her evil faster. How about it, will you follow me until you regain your humanity?"
The masked ones nodded in unison.
"Good. The name's Banthus Evans. How about you guys?"
"Toto," they both replied, "We remember not all things as humans, thus the name given by the Ancient One for us was that."
Banthus nodded and set his eyes back on the sinuous road ahead, galloping on his horse as the two spirits jogged easily to his side, not showing the slightest signs of fatigue even when the midday sun rose high above them.
