A/N: It's been a really long time, hasn't it? I honestly didn't expect to life to leave me so little free time that I could not even think about this fic most of the time. These huge upload gaps might be a regular thing from now on, all things considered. I don't know when I'll release chapter 22, but I thank you for being patient with me. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.
Until next time
~Kalafinn
When Ciel left the hotel, he carried a silver case filled with new ammo and weapons. Ain could not be defeated in close-quarters, but he could still have his skull pierced by the right bullet. The Steel Cross had to gather more information on how far the energy that corrupted Ain could go. Depending on what he gathered, he would have to assemble heavier weapons from the arsenal he was given.
'Even with the best weapons of this world, will that be enough to bring down a servant of two gods?' he thought to himself as he walked.
When he reached the street, he expected to see Luriel but saw her sister instead. Ariel dressed in the red and black uniform proper to people of their trade in Lurensia. Their outfits were identical save for the colours and the crest on their back. The Lurensian design replaced Illipia's cross by Oryed's Cross. To Ciel, the golden symbol of Velder was no more sacred than the Seiker's crest.
Ciel had not worked with Ariel before, but after seeing her around Hoffman's guild, there was something about her that was familiar. The rest of the El Search Party did not really trust her, and he did not blame them for it. Anyone outside the field would undoubtedly be scared of a mercenary watching over them. Yet, after properly talking with her and Camilla during the Band's assault of the Memorial Bridge, Ciel could see the innate charisma she had. Perhaps that was why he felt there was something familiar about her; Verni had that same spark, too. It would be a lie to say he had warmed up to her just out of that meeting, but he was courteous around her. After all, he would have to work with her and Camilla until Ain died. He worked best as a lone wolf, but the priestesses' orders were absolute.
The blonde glanced at her wrist watch before turning towards him. Then, she crossed her arms, "Well, that sure took longer than I expected, Fluonian 21st."
Ariel walked down the street, followed closely by Ciel, who simply shrugged at her criticism. He had not seen Aurelian when he left. Frankly, it seemed the half-elf had vanished into thin air, and that prospect somewhat worried him. "I had to report to two people, Lurensian 21st. One of which is a pain to deal with."
The woman looked back at him and stepped back to be by his side, "You mean Aurelian?"
"The one and only."
Ariel chuckled, "Knew it. Even compared to my current contractor, he's a royal pain in the ass."
Ciel smirked, "Can't say I've spoken to Hoffman much as of late, but I sure haven't seen loads of honest merchants who'll hire us."
The blonde sighed, "That's true. But sadly I'm not here on an undercover job to expose his shady dealings. He apparently wrote a letter to the Church and now all of us are here."
The half-demon's smile died out, "What do you mean 'all of us'?"
"Well, Camilla, Aurelian and I, for starters."
Ciel blinked, still trying to process what he was hearing, "What? How in the El's name does a merchant get people that high up moving?"
The Lurensian mercenary shrugged as they turned down the corner that led to the less sumptuous houses of the district, "Hoffman's letter contained enough proof to worry the Earth Priestess. Camilla and I came first under the orders of her second Guardian. Not sure how Aurelian got involved, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was out of an abundance of caution from the Water Priestess." She paused, briefly glancing up at the sky, "And good thing he's here, considering what's happening to that Celestial you're travelling with."
The blue-haired mercenary took a deep breath, "Why, thank you for letting me know that much, but you don't know who might be hearing us."
Ariel smirked, "I wouldn't make such a rookie mistake. Elder has its perks, Ciel."
'Perks, huh? I wonder what it cost to the people here.' The half-demon thought, contenting himself to nod as they came down a set of stairs. The streets were deserted, and the sun was still at its zenith. One thing was seeing small villages turn into ghost towns, but it was the first time Ciel saw a place like this become a ghost town. Once they came down, Ariel turned to the right, and Ciel saw the park two or three blocks away. As they came closer to Wally's statue, they found none other than Aurelian, sitting at the foot of the statue, dozing off as he stared at a pocket watch. The lad was still wearing the robes that identified his real rank. He looked up at them once they were right in front of him, and as the half-elf put his watch away, Ciel noticed it was made of the same copper and gold alloy as Sasha's cross. There was some shape engraved onto it, but the half-demon was not sure if it had the same shape as Sasha's brooch, or if it was something else entirely.
"You're both here earlier than expected," Aurelian said with a yawn as he got up, "How annoying."
"Well, the earlier we get the coordinates, the less we'll bother you." Ariel's voice was politely sweet, but her smile was anything but genuine.
"You're both going to be bothering me all day long," the elf said as he stretched his arms. Underneath his tunic, Ciel caught a glimpse of a full-plate armour. The elf looked at him, but his gaze slid down to the luggage the half-demon carried. For a moment, Ciel swore Aurelian's hand glew. However, that had to be his armour shining under the sun, considering his tattoo did not react at all to the use of magic. The half-elf then looked up at the two mercenaries, crossing his arms, "I didn't even want to go out today, but a change of pace might not be too bad."
Ariel's smile remained plastered across her face, "Is that so? Did you wish to show off to initiate Ciel to his future duties before we depart? You sure dressed up for it."
"I wish I put on my special armour just for that."Aurelian sighed, directing his attention towards Ciel. He reached out a hand towards him, "I need a weapon from you. The Feitan pistols will do just fine."
Ciel furrowed his brow at him, "Don't you have weapons of your own?"
"I do," Aurelian replied with an enigmatic and brief smirk, "But I hope I never have to use them against people. I just need some insurance, you see? Besides, you're better with your Drakefires, aren't you, demon boy?"
The half-demon frowned at the nickname, "...Alright, sir. How much ammo do you need?"
Aurelian chuckled, "Oh, don't worry about that. The weapons alone will do."
As Ciel crouched down to open the portable arsenal he was given, Ariel stepped closer to Aurelian, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Insurance?" she asked, "Why in the world would you need that?"
"Because, my dear Ariel, I happen to have a new and urgent mission in the Shadow Forests."
Ariel seemed taken aback by this, and Ciel stopped before opening the case, wondering why there was such an important change in plans.
Ciel squinted at the elf, putting two and two together, "Are you accompanying us?"
Aurelian nodded.
"I, uh, wasn't aware you'd come along, sir. Neither of the priestesses said anything about it." Ariel added.
Aurelian rolled his eyes, "That's because the change didn't come from them. I got new info from Yoon. You two no longer have a safe passage. I have to come with you."
The blonde mercenary's gaze grew wide, "No way! This is Yoon we're talking about. Did something happen to him?"
The half-elf shrugged, "I have no idea, and we don't have time to waste if that's the case. Fluonian 21st, hurry it up and give me the Feitan pistols."
'What did they do to this town? If not even a Guardian fears talking about a mission out in the open...just how many did they silence?' the half-demon thought as he fully opened the lid of the suitcase. Five different weapons and some extra ammo cartridges lined up perfectly on each side. Ciel's eyes widened at the pristine black and silver gunblades at the centre of the open suitcase. Those weapons were unmistakably custom-made Hinrichtung Drakefires, forged by none other than Sdeing himself. One would think that a Silver Cross of Ciel's calibre would already own at least one of Sdeing's weapons, but the old blacksmith was very picky with his clients. Besides the pistols and the Drakefires, there were pieces to assemble a portable cannon, a sniper rifle, a set of hunting knives, and three packs of bullets: one of mana-loaded rounds, one for incendiary rounds, and one for piercing rounds. As much as Ciel wanted to grab the Hinrichtungs, there was no room for error on this mission.
The Fluonian mercenary took the first pack of ammo. Despite Lu's state, he felt far more confident in his flexibility to enchant bullets made to receive mana in any way he wanted. The other rounds would be overkill, all things considered. Once he loaded up the small pouches over his belts with spare ammo, he took the two Feitan pistols and tossed them to Aurelian, who mouthed a 'thanks' as he picked them from the ground. Ciel could tell that the elf had armed the weapon with bullets entirely made of his own mana by only looking at the distinctive blue glow at its barrel and grip.
"Ah! Thank the El you're still there!" A woman's voice rang out from a distance.
The team of mercenaries turned to their right only to see Luriel, walking wobbly and out of breath. Ariel naturally rushed up to her, reminding her that they would not have left if she was not there.
'And she supposedly failed her entrance exam,' Ciel thought as he turned back to close the suitcase, 'Yeah, right.'
Aurelian approached Luriel and had to rise to the tip of his toes to pat her shoulder, "Good job, Luriel."
"O-oh, right. I, uhm, well, it's something I was asked to do...so you know, well, might as well do it. To repay you."
Ciel closed the suitcase and left it on the bench to his right. Ariel was supposed to take it, but it seemed odd to Ciel that she had been tasked by Aurelian to do something else entirely. It was impossible to know exactly what that was, but it was clear to him that she was not even focused on what she was supposed to do now. Her gaze was glued to Aurelian, but Ciel could not help but think that this closeness made the young woman even more nervous than usual.
'What did he make her do?' he asked himself as he took a glance at Ariel. His Lurensian counterpart looked concerned for her sister but seemed to have no more clues than he did as to why Luriel was nervous at Aurelian's closeness.
"You don't owe me anything, Luriel." Aurelian answered with a smile. He pointed at the suitcase Ciel had left on the planned spot. "Now, just leave that suitcase under your employee bank account. Make sure that any outsider who looks at that thing don't live to tell the tale."
Luriel flinched at the order, "O-oh, uhm, Aurelian, I don't know what you mean by that. I mean, I'm just-"
Aurelian passed an arm around her. Since he was barely any taller than Aisha, the elf could not quite reach the woman's shoulder without tiptoeing "Luriel, come on," he called her with a serious tone, "I know you're smart enough to know what I mean. I trust you'll keep that safer than anyone I know. Is it unwise for me to trust you?"
"N-no, sir Aurelian. I, uhm, I shall- no, I will use everything I have to protect it." The fear in Luriel's eyes seemed to disperse a little. She gave a nod to her sister as if to tell her she was fine. The Lurensian Steel Cross nodded back, but the worry in her gaze remained.
Aurelian gave Luriel a pat on the back, smiling with the fox-like grin he often had, "Good. Now, I can go in peace."
The elf turned back towards them and put his pistols around his belt, "Let's get going."
'Safer than anyone he knows?' Ciel thought as he followed along with the other two. He looked back at Luriel who, despite pulling and pulling the suitcase, could not make it move before it simply fell off the bench. The hit was so loud, even Ariel and Aurelian glanced back.
Luriel seemed to notice the stares as she bowed and looked back at the suitcase. She took off her glasses, and both the elf and Ariel turned back around. Ciel, however, still looked over his shoulder.
Mana seemed to flow from her gaze. Ciel was too far away to tell for sure, but Luriel's eyes did not seem to be the same shade of blue. The short-haired blonde put her hands on the suitcase, and, in the blink of an eye, the suitcase was gone.
'...Interesting.' Ciel thought to himself as he faced the backs of his two new comrades.
As soon as Aurelian opened the gate back to the slums, Ciel struggled not to throw up. He noticed the half-elf also frowned at the scent and pulled up his cloak to cover his mouth and nose. Ariel seemed to be the only one completely unbothered by the pestilence of Elder's faubourgs.
Aurelian turned back at them, "We'll get by with murky water. Be frugal with the bread, we only got one mouldy oaf."
The two other mercenaries nodded and put the hoods on their own jackets on, walking shoulder to shoulder with the Water Guardian. What Aurelian said had no meaning to any outsiders, but, from the mouth of an Agent-or in this case a Water Guardian-it was both a hidden order and an incantation to hide their faces underneath someone else's. Their clothing alone held a spell that would usually scare thieves away, but they needed more than a passing fear to fulfill their mission. The plan was not to walk up to Elder's gates, more so it was to get kicked out of town as soon as possible. Replicating sickness or death was a surefire way to get kicked out, no questions asked. From Aurelian's code, they would look sick enough to stand out among the city's pestilence.
It did not take more than a minute for a guard to spot them, sitting down the stairs that led to Elder's nobility. The armoured guard frowned in disgust at them and put his steel helmet on before carefully walking towards them. He poked Aurelian with his longsword, to which Ariel slowly put a hand over him.
"No," she wheezed.
The guard's frown grew into a scowl, and he pushed Ariel's hood away. As soon as he saw her face, he flinched and walked back with a hand over his mouth. He looked to his left, nudging his head to call what Ciel assumed to be his comrades. Three others, all dressed in the same yellow and green uniform, emerged from the alley. One was mounting what looked to be a metallic cart powered by some kind of magic instead of horses. The strange thing, to him, was that the vehicle offered a covered cabin for the driver and not for the passengers.
"We got three with the Red Fever," the first guard hollered. "They're barely alive, so just dump them out of town before they spread their sickness around the block."
"Yes, captain," the two other guards replied before putting their own helmets on. They dragged away Aurelian first. The spell they carried was strong enough to change their physical appearance entirely, but they all had to act the part. Aurelian limped his way into the metallic cart, barely wheezing any complaints from the guards.
Next was Ariel, who got up on her own and dragged her feet to sit right next to the half-elf. Ciel got up as slowly as he could and, like Aurelian, limped all the way up to the cart. The cart began to move into the main streets, as fast as if it had been pulled by ten horses. Ciel barely had the chance to catch a glimpse of the guard who had seen them first yell something about an alchemist before the hubbub of Elder's streets shrouded everything.
It was not too much of a stretch to think that the captain would have his men see an alchemist to be sure they did not catch the Fever. In a matter of minutes, the cart was rolling past the gates. It continued down the dirt road that connected it to Ruben before stopping. The cart seemed to tilt downwards, and Ciel hit the ground next to his other two companions. The cart sped away as fast as it had come. The first phase was a success.
"The show is over," Aurelian declared as he got up, dusting off his cloak.
Ariel and the half-demon got up soon after, and the blonde woman sighed.
"Aurelian," she asked, "Out of all the diseases in this world, did it have to be the Red Fever? You're going to cause a panic in the city."
Ciel tilted his head left and right, feeling his neck a bit stiff. It was rather bizarre for someone of their rank to be this concerned over such a thing, but perhaps there were many differences between the two branches of the Church. It would not hurt to explain it to her, "Their town alchemist is going to figure it out. Nobody's going to panic."
Aurelian yawned as he stretched his arms, "That's right. Less worrying and more walking, Ariel. We need to get out of the forest before dark."
The two Steel Crosses nodded and followed the half-elf through a barely visible road. Tree roots, moss, and dead leaves had split an old paved road to the point Ciel thought it was more hazardous to walk on it than to risk getting tangled on some old vines that slithered over the ground that surrounded them.
About a mile into their journey, the trees grew so tall that they hid the sun as much as the night itself. Ciel stopped, taking his weapon to fire a single flare, but as he was pulling the safety, the vines that covered the trees began to glow on their own. It was a shade of blue so close to white that it resembled the moonlight. Small fireflies slowly rose from their graves of moss and grass to float like petals lulled away by the wind. Nature had dressed herself with the colours of the stars, and to say that the beauty of it all was breathtaking would be an understatement.
From the corner of his eye, Ciel saw that Ariel had stopped, too. Her jaw dropped at the sight of a luminescent red butterfly, and her blue gaze followed it. The half-demon turned towards Ariel and the butterfly, mesmerized by how, where the butterfly went, a path of dandelions flared up with a gentle white light. Ariel turned to her right to face the new path and began to walk on it. One slow step, and a ripple of silver light glimmered under her feet. A second one, and the ripples grew larger.
She smiled at the beauty of it all, reaching out her finger for a butterfly before coming back to the path on her own. As soon as she came back, the insect on her hand vanished. "This forest is really pretty, isn't it?"
He nodded, looking back on what lied ahead, only to see someone else wearing the cape of the Fluonian Church. The man ahead of them was incredibly tall, perhaps two inches above seven feet. Each stride he took made his long, lilac braid swing like a pendulum. His cape was very similar to the one Ciel was wearing, yet it had been customized. The number five shone at the centre of the Church's symbol, and golden epaulettes enhanced his sombre look. Underneath his cloak, Ciel could see a glimpse of metal armour, but he had never seen the strange copper-golden alloy being worked into armour. The closest thing he had seen to it was Sasha's chain and Aurelian's pocket watch. However, unlike those small accessories, the elf's armour was undoubtedly a weapon. The enchantment placed on it was strong enough for Ciel's hand to sting. His tattoo was not supposed to react this way on any enchanted objects unless they were made to kill their target instantly.
"I wouldn't play with your luck like that, Ariel," the man solemnly said as he stopped. He turned around, giving Ciel small hints about his unlikely identity. There was only one dark elf he knew who had copper eyes. The elven man looked to be in his early twenties, or however many centuries that was for elves.
The blonde woman looked as confused as him. Even to her, this man could not be Aurelian.
The elf raised an eyebrow at them, crossing his arms at their silence before his gaze lit up with an idea. He walked towards them, and once he was only two steps away, he shook his head, pensively looking at his feet. "Huh. To think that Resiarin armour cannot slow down the Ent's energy..."
"Who are you?" Ciel asked.
"Aurelian," the dark elf answered before giving them his back once more. "Who else would it be?"
'I've had my growth spurts, but I guess elven blood just really takes it to a whole other level,' Ciel thought to himself, remembering that Aurelian, under normal circumstances, did not look any older than Elsword or any taller than Aisha.
"You look, uhh, older." Ariel snapped out of her shock first, following the elf once more.
"I know. The Ent don't appreciate being reminded of the gods outside of their forests. So, unless you want to lose your guide, I suggest you move fast."
The half-demon tilted his head, "Are you saying you're gonna get older, and older until you die?"
"Hah," Aurelian glanced at him with a wry smirk. "That's part of it. Although, knowing them, the Ent can make it a lot worse for all of us. The quicker we reach Yoon's last known location, the better."
"Last known…" Ariel worriedly echoed, already understanding what the new information Aurelian got might have been.
Ciel glanced at the blonde, wondering just how someone who was technically his equal was so easily carried away by an informant's death. Was Lurensia so peaceful that no one was silenced for giving out information to the Church?
The trees sang the melody of a breeze, and Ciel heard a bird take flight. He looked around him and saw a swarm of grey doves rise into the sky the forest hid. He had never seen as many since he left Lanox. He felt a familiar presence around him, trying to reach out to his very soul. Could it be-
'Lu?' he thought, calling out for her as he had done before.
The swirl of wings unveiled a white-haired woman sitting over a dead tree. Her blue horns shone under an invisible moonlight and so did her indigo wings. She hummed a melody he had never heard as she combed her long, wavy hair.
'Ciel, I finally found you.' she answered. Her voice had her adult timbre. 'I'm so glad to see you.'
He stared at Lu's image, and her ears perked up as the seconds passed by. She turned around to face him. Her blue gaze had a radiance he had never seen on her before. Her smile, too, seemed much warmer. She reached out for him, and he wished to reach her.
"I'm alright, now, Ciel," Lu said, "Thanks to you, we won't have to worry about anything here."
Someone grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him back. Ciel staggered as he saw Lu's image transform into a giant vine-like plant that stood almost as tall as the trees it had built its nest of thorns in. The flower that bloomed at its centre was a slime-covered mess of withering petals that converged into three circles of fangs. All of them were as long and as sharp as machetes. The vines coiled around the disgusting purple flower, and a dozen of them sprang out towards Ciel, looking for any limb to drag him away.
The mercenary leapt away, quickly pulling the safety in mid air, and fired three shots. His attack managed to blow four vines off, and a gust of wind cut off five from the roots. From the corner of his eye, the half-demon caught a glimpse of Ariel, whose feet had summoned the wind blades that had helped him. Ciel quickly shot one last bullet, imbuing it with demonic energy to make it ricochet from one target to the next. The remaining vines were burnt away, and the flower screeched in pain as the blue flames he had summoned came close to its core. Aurelian pushed both him and Ariel, who was to his right, back. A purple miasma gathered around the flower, turning into a mauve goo that ate away the plant. Aurelian's right hand shone in gold, and a small circle of light appeared next to him, summoning a staff. Ciel reloaded his weapon and aimed at the gooey blob that was consuming the plant that had just attacked them. Ariel, too, took a combat stance as her hands and feet shone with wind magic.
The half-elf did not even glance at them before bellowing an order, "Stand down!"
He took the staff firmly in his hand, and, as the portal closed, Ciel could see that his staff was unlike anything he had ever seen. It was a sceptre long enough to be carried with two hands, but Aurelian waved it seamlessly with only one. The head of his weapon was golden, shaped like a harp. Instead of chords, a giant ice shard glowed like a sapphire in its centre. The cold embraced them in less than a second. The grass or the surrounding nature, however, were not freezing over, and neither were they. Ciel could not see his breath turn into puffs of vapor, but he felt just as cold as if he was facing a blizzard. What was bizarre about the entire phenomenon was that his tattoo was not alerting him about Aurelian's magic. On top of that, Ciel's own mana circuits could not feel any mana flowing wildly around him. He could tell that Aurelian was using an incredibly powerful ice spell, but every tangible thing around him said otherwise.
'This shouldn't be possible. What even is this magic?' Ciel thought.
Aurelian roared as he summoned a rain of ice shards as big as pillars. Ciel leapt away and saw the bigger picture. The goo had not only taken over the plant, but also its dead vines, which were surrounding them. Ariel had not moved an inch, and the ice from Aurelian's attack simply went through her without hurting her as if she were a ghost. Ciel blinked a couple of times at the sight but could not find an answer for it before the rain of ice went away as fast as it had come. The goo had been encased in ice, and that ice shattered into dust. The danger was over.
Aurelian took a deep breath, tapping his wand thrice on the floor. It vanished instantly. He now looked to be in his early thirties. The half-elf glanced at Ciel, "You're off the path again. Come back here, and let's go."
"...Roger that." Ciel hesitantly said, since he was still thinking about Aurelian's display of power.
He glanced at Ariel who seemed completely unfazed by the entire affair. The blonde glanced back at him and leaned a bit closer.
"The higher the rank, the crazier the magic, trust me." she softly said, "You're lucky to have witnessed the power of a low-ranking guardian first."
Aurelian loudly cleared his throat, "Rank five out of nine isn't low-ranking, my dear Ariel."
The woman straightened up, "Sorry, sir, I meant-"
"Leave it. I know you're a special case. If anything, I admire you for withstanding a moderate display of power from Artea's second guardian without going insane."
Ariel passed a hand behind her neck, "Why, than you, sir. Although, I think you should let us handle the battles ahead. We can't have you dying before we find your colleague."
"What?" Ciel blinked, "The guy we're looking for-?!"
"Yes. Yoon is the second Earth Guardian." Aurelian quickly answered, "If you must know, he's been in Elder for the past two centuries. I think he goes by Yiu Hie nowadays." He took a deep breath in, "We've never been on the best terms, but I'll be damned if I let him die here of all places."
"Hie?" Ciel echoed incredulously, "Is he old and has golden eyes?"
"Yes. You do know what he's been up to recently, right?" Aurelian smirked as he looked over his shoulder. "The whole merry group of thugs he pulled together with that fugitive, uh, Evans, was it?"
"Yes. Former captain Banthus Evans," Ciel acquiesced. It was unnecessary to let any of the two know that, up until now, they could only speculate about the ties between The Band and Banthus himself. A Guardian joining a group of bandits was completely out of the realm of likely possibilities, but it was somehow less shocking than experiencing Aurelian's magic. If anything, Rena's description of the old man's power made more sense.
"I see." Aurelian calmly said as he quickened his pace, "We should start running. I sense many more of those plants coming to avenge their little friend."
"Can't we deal with them?" Ariel asked as both she and Ciel had to start running to match Aurelian's strides.
"You two struggled to deal with one of them. There's at least fifteen closing in on us." He glanced back at Ciel, "Just a friendly reminder, Ciel, don't use demonic magic on those flowers. They like it more than you'd think."
Ciel contented himself to nod, but his mind was already set on finding a way to track their enemy. The creatures knew how to get into their heads and used some kind of illusion magic to trick them. He just had to focus on his surroundings. The trees were the only constant in their path. Their leaves and the moss that grew on them changed from their peaceful violets to oranges and reds. He glanced left, seeing a green flower bloom rapidly over the branch of a tree. Without a second of hesitation, he fired.
His bullet pierced the flower, which turned into a gigantic bee hive. From it, a green wasp as big as a dog had fallen to its death. Its black blood overflowed into the grass, and a second wasp came out.
"Use your demonic flames on that wasp nest! Now!" the Guardian barked. "Ariel, blow those miasma flowers away!"
"I could try cutt-"
"Don't. Just push them away. We don't have the manpower to actually kill those things for very long before they overrun us."
While the blue-haired mercenary lit up his last bullet before recharging with demonic flames, a gust of wind deafened him for a moment. He feared the wind would extinguish his attack, but his fears were unfounded. The hive burnt and fell into the ground, becoming a pile of ashes on impact.
Ciel contented himself to follow the steps and the orders coming from his companions; every other sense was focused on reacting to the flowers, miasma, and wasps that came along the way. He had never really been on a battlefield, let alone followed every command the moment they were given. There was something strangely exciting about the chaos of demonic fire and wind magic unfolding around him. It briefly occurred to him that the thrill of battle was nostalgic.
As they approached a quiet clearing, Aurelian suddenly stopped and raised his open hand in the air. They had arrived at their destination. The Water Guardian closed his hand in a fist, signaling that something was amiss. Ciel swept the place with a quick glance. Everything laid still, but there was a weak hum that seemed to come from underground. The half-demon looked down and, for a second, felt cold hands grip his neck from behind. Startled, he turned around, aiming at the surrounding darkness with his weapons.
There was nothing. Cautiously, the blue-haired man turned back and looked at his comrades. The half-elf seemed increasingly tense, and so did Ariel.
"Don't move," Aurelian whispered. "The Ent are watching us."
The trees in front of them swirled together in a cringe-inducing symphony of creaks and screeches. The branches spun into legs, and the lights that lit up the leaves flowed within the cavities of the wood, becoming the veins and nerves that ignited the pile of twisted trees to life. The light flowed from The Ent's feet to their torso, swirling into an ellipse-surely a heart-then up into a pear-shaped head, where they split into two flaming eyes, nostrils, and crooked mouth.
"You brought a most fascinating guest, Betrayer."
The Ent's voice sounded like a dozen voices of men and women speaking simultaneously. With every move of his lips, Ciel could see and smell the foul mauve mist that permeated Lua's grave. The spirit's eyes moved on their head, transporting their face to its torso, slightly to the right to look directly at Ciel.
"We noticed you tried to weaken us...Ciel." The god began with a wicked smile that made the smell of the fumes they projected even more unbearable, "But do not worry. Lua was an insignificant look into the empty, meaningless world beyond our domain."
Wood creaked around and from The Ent, and before Ciel could leap back, he was firmly held in place by hundreds of tree roots.
"Protector," Aurelian called, summoning his staff back, "Let the half-demon go. We did not come to disturb your reign."
"I know. You came looking for a man who has long been taken far from my domain, Betrayer." The god continued. "You and the cursed human ought to leave and chase the albino human on your own. We have a gift for the demons. The gift of remembrance."
"No one needs your gifts. Tell me what you did to Yoon, Ent." Aurelian took off his cloak, revealing an intricate golden armour similar to what Helputt and his men wore. However, Aurelian's armour emanated magic, enhancing the invisible power that flowed from his staff. This time, every step he took spread ice over the ground. The branches split and broke into countless shards of ice. Ciel freed his arm and squeezed one of his daggers through to cut at least one of his legs loose. Aurelian's ice spell soon made it so Ciel only had to hit the frozen roots with the knife's handle to break them apart.
The Ent's face slid back to where their head was supposed to be, looking curiously at the half-elf. "Do you think the power of foreign divinities will do you any favours?"
Aurelian remained silent, spinning his staff above him. A rain of ice fell like arrows over The Ent, but the god was so big the shards simply remained stuck in the wood without doing much damage.
"Take Ariel and run," the half-elf ordered as he came by Ciel's side. "Run south and don't look behind you."
The half-demon nodded and gestured for Ariel to follow him. The young woman hesitated, looking at how little damage Aurelian was doing, even if some of his ice shards were spreading into patches of frost. Even at his full power, Aurelian had no advantages over The Ent.
"You've become quite strong, Betrayer," the Ent continued, "If Henir had willed it, you would have been crowned by now."
Aurelian scoffed, "I will gladly go against that god's wishes any time I can."
"How arrogant you have become. We should have killed you the moment you re-entered our domain."
"If you want to kill me, give it your best shot, old man!"
From the corner of his eye, Ciel saw Ariel stop and turn around. He glanced back and saw a lance made of vines and wood dart towards her. Without a second of hesitation, he pulled her down. The spear continued its path, heading right for his head. Ciel merely had the time to see the projectile coming when it was only an inch away from his left eye. He closed his eyes, prepared for the pain to come, but there was no such thing. The weapon vanished into blue dust.
Ariel seemed as surprised as he was. As she got back up, her surprise soon transformed into reassurance, "Even this far, Aurelian-"
"Yes, but for how long? Let's get going." Ciel cut her words short, already turning around to continue running where Aurelian had told them to run. Considering their route, going south was indeed the fastest route back to Elder, but it was far from any of the safe routes mapped by the priestesses. The forests were quiet, too quiet. The best they could hope for was not running out of mana before getting out.
Their race outside went by as quietly as any stroll in any other forests, but the peacefulness of it all put Ciel even more on edge. Something was not right. There was something about this place that reeked of death. Such thoughts spun over and over in his head, sometimes intertwining into a cacophony. His head was about to explode, and he soon saw Ariel overcome him. They were almost out. Ciel could see the main road to Elder and the setting sun.
"Ciel!" Ariel called him as he reached out for his hand.
The half-demon reached out for her hand, but the strength in his legs left him, and he fell on a rough bed of tree roots and rocks. By the time he got up, he was no longer in the outskirts of the forest. Instead, he found himself in a deep part of the forest, perhaps in the same place where he had fled from. A heavy coat of snow covered the trees and everything around him, but he didn't feel the cold or had any trouble walking on what looked to be a foot of snow. He took a few steps and looked behind him. There were no footprints.
I will give you the gift of remembrance…
The eyes of The Ent were on him, and he could not tell if it was because he had met the god or if it was because, as some rare books described it, The Ent had made him join his domain. If that was the case, he was most likely dead.
'We can't be two dying here. I can't die here…' He thought, trying to catch a snowflake, but it slid out of his grasp.
Ciel walked on, determined to cling onto the hope The Ent had simply taken him back to the clearing.
He heard something rustle through the bushes, and he bolted around to aim at it. Leaves fell above him, and he heard a woman's voice from above.
"Ainrad?" the woman asked, stopping mid-air as she looked around her.
Ciel looked up and saw Lu the way he had seen her in her nightmare. A black crown rested on her head, highlighting the silver glow of her hair under the light of the full moon and the snow. A fur coat of the same colour as her crown kept her warm as her wings stretched into the night. She looked down and swiftly dived in front of Ciel, landing as gracefully as a cat.
"There you are," she said as she walked towards Ciel. "Where have you been?"
She passed through Ciel, as if he were nothing but air, to join a white hooded figure that dragged along a dark figure by his side. Ciel was too far away to see any faces, but he followed Lu instinctively.
"I was scouting our perimeter. I found this half-spirit on the way back." The demon in the white robes answered. The chime of chains rattled through the air, and Ciel saw white bindings around the dark-skinned man's arms and body, "He insisted on talking to you, and he seems related to The Ent."
Ainrad looked different from the last time Ciel had seen him. Not only had his gaze grown slightly golden, but his horns seemed to be shorter, while his wings and halo looked more Celestial-like. His hair was cut short, and the scar of a blade ran over his left cheek. Just staring at Ainrad made Ciel a tad uncomfortable. The energy he felt emanating from the supposed Cizin demon was very similar to that of the spell the Ancient Phoru had used to try to kill them both. According to Lu, the ancient spirit of Ruben had used Celestial magic on them. Ainrad had more than enough of that poisonous light emanating from him to be a Celestial, a very powerful one at that.
The tall man by Ainrad's side resembled the Ent. His purple robes covered his feet, and the edges of his clothing were made of the same miasma the tree god produced. The man's face was long and austere. His nose was a beak on his face, highlighting his high cheekbones. While his hair was long and white, it was impossible to tell his real age. His eyes were burning embers on his face, and over his long, elf-like ears, a crown of purple wood decorated his head.
Lu looked at the dark-skinned man from head to toe, "What is your name?"
The man kept his head high as he answered, "Names are meaningless to the Protector. They have not given me one nor do I seek to be named."
The demoness sighed, summoning her sword into her hands in a blaze of blue flames. She pointed it at the man's throat. "You sure do like pointless banter. Who are you to the Ent?"
"I am their heir," the man hissed defiantly. "Kill me, and you will meet your demon god."
Luciela chuckled, "Oh? You think that because I wield such a big sword that I will execute you with it?"
She slashed swiftly with her weapon, cutting a lock of his hair. The Steel Queen stared coldly at her victim. Her tone was as menacing as the weapon she held, "You have no idea how precise I can be."
Then, the demoness sheathed her sword back, "However, I have no desire to harm you. I came here to live peacefully among the other inhabitants of the Shadows. If you come to talk to me, speak."
"I can see now that you are far stronger than I thought," The man chuckled, "I would love nothing more than to fight both of you before Ishmael's cavalry lights up this place. What a shame."
Both Ainrad's and Lu's gaze grew somber with rage. Ciel could see the demoness' fists tighten up.
Ainrad's Celestial traits grew stronger. His left eye turned a bright blue with a white iris, "We made a deal with The Ent. Even if you are their heir, what you're doing is treason. Are you sure you want to defy your predecessor?"
The man coughed as the links that bound him stretched up to his neck and squeezed it.
"I cannot undo their deal," the man gagged, "but I sure can make a new one under some conditions."
The man grew silent, trying to breathe. Lu lifted her hand, and her lover let the Ent's heir breathe. He coughed and gasped for air before looking down at Lu.
"You see, Steel Queen, I do not act out of hatred towards you or your, well," he glanced at Ainrad, "star-crossed lover. Nor your incredible child. Truly, you are the most interesting group of demons we have seen. You are the hope to end a conflict that has made this world and yours bleed for millenia."
He coughed, "But if I have to choose between seeing my home burn under the relentless attack of thousands of Celestials or just seeing your camp burn...The Ent won't punish me for choosing the lesser of two evils."
"So, The Ent is aware of this and didn't tell us…" Ainrad muttered.
"They did not believe it, and neither did I. Until a warrior of Ishmael attacked one of the huntsman villages last night. Very close to Hagen. I negotiated the terms on The Ent's behalf, so I am responsible to inform you."
"What is your side of the deal with that goddess?" Lu calmly asked him, but Ciel could see in her eyes that she wished nothing more than to behead the Betrayer right then and there.
"I am bound to inform the Celestials of your presence on the next full moon. If I were to be killed or not show up at that time, they would not hesitate to burn the Shadows to the ground."
"I see." Lu looked at her lover, "Ainrad, leave him be, and let's get going."
The Celestial sighed but did as asked, "Go, half-spirit."
He walked up to Lu, and the two leapt into the sky, flying away into the night. Ciel followed them on the ground, but he could still hear their conversation.
"Let's head to Hagen. We need to make sure that bastard isn't lying to us."
"Ru, he could also be luring us there. Who's going to defend Belegor if we both die?"
The demon countess sighed, "We don't have to get too close to know if they attacked or not, and the two of us have gotten out of a lot of ambushes."
"I don't think I stand a fair chance against a group of Celestials at their peak. Even with my Steel Cross."
"Has she really weakened you that much? You don't seem that much weaker to me. Besides, you've wielded those daggers for longer than you've been a Celestial. Your skill alone should give you an edge," Luciela said, turning sharply to the east out of the shadow forests.
"You have never seen me at my full power, Ru. It would have killed you," Ainrad answered as he imitated her change of direction in perfect sync, "As for my weapons, well, I'm not fighting mere human and elven heretics here, am I?"
Luciela chuckled dryly, "Fair point. Well, we can play it safe and just monitor from the edge of the Shadows. If the worst comes to pass, my warlocks have orders to build a portal back to the demon realm if we go missing for a day. Belegor will be safe. Ishmael rarely gets personally involved in Sult's domain."
"She sent me there already, and I'm certain that she will quite literally move heaven and earth to send an army next time around to kill every trace of our existence. I don't think she will even let us be remembered in history books."
The demoness remained silent for a moment and then clicked her tongue. Her tone was quieter when she spoke again, "Is everything we've done pointless, Ain? We've fought for so long, and all of that is amounting to nothing. Is this it?"
"Ru, I-" The Celestial began, only to be interrupted by her.
"Don't apologize. I want you to be perfectly honest with me. You know what Ishmael can or can't do against us. If nothing we can do will work, I want to hug our son one last time before we all die by her hands."
"...There is one thing I have never considered. It might save you and Belegor."
"What about you?"
"I have already died once as a human. A second death can't be worse."
"I'm not about to let you die on me. Tell me your plan, and we'll find a way for you to live. Just like we did to quell the Rebellion of the Azure Valley."
The Celestial sighed, but his voice sounded a bit more hopeful, "Yeah, you're right. If we got out of that, we might just get out of this one, too. Thank you, Ru."
Ciel saw a ghostly figure of Lu run by his side from the corner of his eye. She was a child.
We really thought we could win. They didn't set a trap in Hagen, but…I should've stopped him from seeing that. Maybe then, we would've had more time. If we had just a week more to prepare, I wouldn't have had to watch him die like that.
Ciel turned towards her, "Lu, please talk to me. You don't need to tell me more about your past. None of it matters."
She suddenly stopped, and Ciel did his best to halt as fast, but he was left a few steps ahead of her figure. The demoness trotted towards him and reached out for his hand.
"Please wake up, Lu." The half-demon whispered as he took her hand. Her touch made the memory distort itself into many others.
He saw a field of impaled corpses line the perimeter of a flaming village. The flames burnt white like the moon, and the energy from the blaze encased the remains of the villagers in a blue crystal. Each corpse melted down to the bone. Yet, not even the bones remained for long before turning to a trail of dust. Each trail zigzagged on the ground until they all converged into a giant crystal. It looked like the El.
The brief image of the crystal shifted into the small clearing Aurelian had taken them to. A dark vortex swallowed half of the clearing as demons flew frantically around him. Some made it to the portal, but most came crashing down in a rain of guts and blood that washed over Ciel. He did not see, at first, what was killing so many demons. Once he looked up, he saw a line of Celestials standing in the air, charging spears potent enough to make each demon explode from the inside out.
Ciel saw Ainrad throw twenty-one daggers in front of him. all of them hovered around him in a cross-like shape as his mana enhanced them. The blades shone in a golden light, and he sent them flying from above towards the Celestials. The warriors of Ishmael looked up and formed a shield to protect themselves by merely raising one hand. Ainrad opened the palm of his hand, and one of his daggers came flying back to him. He threw it to the ground, and a gigantic version of the weapon began to emerge from the ground. As it did so, countless smaller daggers swarmed all around the Celestials. Some stabbed them in their hearts, heads, or other vital organs. Yet, the injured soldiers simply took out the weapons from their bodies without even flinching from the pain.
A portal split the clouds from the sky. Another dozen of Celestials readied their spears and threw them downwards. Right on top of Ainrad.
He barely had the time to look up before being thrown to the ground. The spears had missed his head, but six pinned his arms to the ground. Both of his hands, elbows, and shoulders were pierced by the weapons. His legs had suffered the most. More than a dozen projectiles had turned his legs into a mess of exposed bone fragments and torn flesh mixed with a growing puddle of blood.
Ciel watched the Celestial's blood flow, surprised to see it was warm and red. Ainrad's face almost looked completely human by now. His silver hair was turning blonde. As the half-demon watched his last moments, he almost pitied him.
Ainrad's twenty one daggers fell from the sky. Two of them stabbed him in the gut while the rest fell over his vanishing wings or simply missed his mangled body completely. The blades he summoned with magic began to vanish. The man's golden gaze was slowly becoming duller as his shallow breaths grew into wheezes. Ciel gave him, at best, a few seconds to live.
What he did not expect, however, was a dark, pitch-black mark to appear on his chest. The energy it emanated was unlike anything he had seen. The terrifying darkness grew into the shape of an eye, and when the eye opened, the portal that helped the demons flee closed. The injured Celestials began to fall one by one; their injuries were also corrupted by the same darkness. The bright, snowy clearing turned pitch black, and terror froze time itself in place.
Ciel gasped as his eyes opened again, facing a blurry image of a white ceiling he did not recognize. Everything was still pitch black from his left side, and he felt the touch of bandages over his face. The touch of someone's hands over his new blindspot made him turn around, only to see Luriel.
The woman's eyes were as blue as a Celestial's, and his sudden movement made her stumble backwards. Delicate threads of mana that flowed from her fingertips snapped as she hit the floor.
"Ouch!" She yelped as she slowly got back on her feet, "I didn't expect you to move so fast…"
She took her glasses out of her skirt pocket and put them on. Once she adjusted them, her gaze returned to its natural ocean blue.
Luriel took a deep breath and offered Ciel a smile, "I'm glad you're awake this fast. Sir Aurelian, uhm," she looked down and clasped her hands together, "Well, he wasn't exactly, uhm, optimistic."
"Where am I? What did you do to me?"
It was the only thing he could think of. He remembered the rain of guts and blood, the white fire, and the chains. Had Luriel burnt half of his face off?
The young blonde flinched, and she carefully passed her fingers over the corner of her eyes as if to wipe her tears without taking off her glasses.
"I'm sorry. Sir Aurelian warned me you wouldn't like my help, but," She mouthed something Ciel did not understand as she began to cry. She sniffled, "You were unrecognizable. I wanted to help."
'Unrecognizable? Shit, how hard did I hit my face?'
Ciel sat down on the bed he had been laying on, taking a deep breath in. "I'm sorry, Luriel. I just...I'm still kinda groggy from the fall. Where are we?"
"We," she said with a trembling voice, "We're in the hotel you and Aurelian met yesterday morning.""
'I was out for a day, huh? I need to get back to see how Lu is doing.'
A door to his right creaked open, and Ciel caught Aurelian's silhouette from the corner of his eye. Luriel lifted her head up, and the mercenary turned his head towards the new visitor.
He looked no different from the usual, although his gaze was closer to the colour of a flame than that of copper. He used his staff as a cane, and his cloak had its sleeves completely ripped off, revealing arms covered in bandages made out of mana. Luriel had perhaps used her magic on him as well. He had never seen any medics use similar magic, but it had to have its uses.
"Good evening," he began as he waltzed into the room. He sat on the edge of Ciel's bed and looked at him, "You really had to make poor Luriel cry, huh? You rude little man."
Ciel could not help smirking at the irony of a kid barely any taller than Lu calling him 'little man'. Aurelian was perhaps not a kid any longer, but that hardly made his words less amusing.
"I, uhm, I'm alright. Ciel apologized."
Aurelian looked over his shoulder, right at Luriel, "As he should. You, on the other hand, deserve more rest. You've already done more than enough for two wounded men."
"Right." She muttered before walking out of the room. She wished them a good evening before going. Once left alone with Aurelian, Ciel scanned the room and saw no windows and barely any furniture. Most strange of all, there was not a single mirror.
"Luriel's eyes are very pretty, aren't they?" Aurelian yawned as he stretched his wounded arms. "Once she takes off those glasses, of course."
Ciel shook his head, putting his hands over the covers. They, too, were bandaged to the tip of his fingers. "Can't say I find that blue anything but terrifying, sir."
"That fear is only temporary." The half-elf replied, making a gesture with his hand to dismiss Ciel's words, "The Ent blasted you with their miasma. You're probably going to be terrified of a lot of nonsense for a while."
"I don't think being afraid of Celestials is nonsense, in my case."
The elf sighed, looking him in the eye, "Luriel isn't one. And the Celestial you're travelling with is just a shell of a real Celestial."
"I suppose so. I didn't think I'd say I prefer seeing that monster die than seeing what he could look like if he had all his power, but here I am. Real Celestials are way worse."
Aurelian scoffed, "As if you'd seen one. This is what a so-called gift from The Ent does to you. It invades your mind and wants to completely turn it upside down."
Ciel remained silent for a moment, looking at his bandaged hands. He clenched his hands into fists only to release them. The movement was not painful, but each time he did so, the bandages felt warm. His nails were curiously digging into his palms. Almost as if they were claws.
You were unrecognizable.
"That miasma," the mercenary finally said, "It doesn't simply alter your thoughts, does it?"
"You got that right," the half elf gravely nodded. "There's a reason I put you in a room like this, Ciel. Right now, you look like a full-fledged demon. You'd cause a real turmoil if the passersby saw you. Luriel's magic can fix that in a day or two. So, don't give the poor girl a hard time, you hear me?"
The half-elf got up and slowly limped back to the exit.
"Yes, sir. I just had one question."
Those words made Aurelian stop and look over his shoulder, "You sure like to bother your superior. What is it?"
"You say that the miasma simply distorts a person's mind...but what are the chances of the distortions to simply be a glimpse of the past?"
Aurelian rolled his eyes, "Close to nil. And even then, for every morsel of truth, The Ent will give you a hundred lies."
"You gave the Celestials the location of the demons hiding in these forests a long time ago, right?"
"All of Elder and Ruben was a forest back then. So, yes. Get to your point quickly, Fluonian 21st."
Ciel leaned towards him, "You know which demons escaped. You even asked me if Lu was one of the survivors. But you knew that. The Steel Queen isn't unknown to you, is it?"
Aurelian merely straightened a bit up at the question. However, he let Ciel continue his tirade.
"There's only one half-spirit who called her that. A half-spirit who called himself the heir of The Ent. And The Ent wanted to crown you, didn't they?"
The half-elf remained silent for a moment and turned around to walk back to where he had been sitting before. Once he was in front of Ciel, he shrugged, "So what of it? That is the morsel of truth the Ent gave you. I am indeed their heir, and I led the demons to their death."
He paused for a moment to take a deep breath, "You could've inferred that from your real memories. I did tell you I was involved in that affair, and you clearly heard some of The Ent's words as you fled with Ariel. The miasma takes those two things and builds an entire story to make you hate me. Perhaps enough to kill me. Would you kill me if whatever you saw was unequivocally true?"
Ciel looked down and passed one of his hands over the nape of his neck, "I just...don't know what to do with everything I saw. I don't know how I kept my cool, but it was one of the worst things I've seen. I don't want it to be true, but I think it might be."
"None of it is, trust me."
Ciel chuckled weakly, "I don't think I trust you a whole lot, Aurelian."
The Ent's heir smirked, "You don't trust the one who dragged you out of that deadly place? By the El, you're a hard one to please."
"It's not that," Ciel answered as his brief smile ran away from his face, "It's just that now, it makes sense why you went out of your way to follow me. You could've sent Luriel or Ariel to supervise me. What I saw made me realize why you asked me if Lu was among the survivors. Funny that you also mentioned that a young demon survived, too."
The half-elf shook his head, "I never asked you such a thing. I don't care if there were any survivors as long as they were out of my home."
His tone was strong and definitive. Ciel understood that anything else he might have asked would be pointless. Aurelian would give him no real answers. The half demon scratched the back of his head, feeling the roots of a horn growing slightly over his left ear, "Makes sense. How did the mission go? Do we have information on Yoon?"
"The mission was a complete failure, no thanks to The Ent appearing out of nowhere. But Yoon is alive. I will oversee his rescue from now on. I'll contact you again once Yoon is back on board."
"Until then, the same as usual?" Ciel asked as Aurelian began to walk out of the room.
"Of course. Camilla will give you something to monitor that Celestial's condition and will tell you how to use it. If his situation worsens to a severe degree, you might see more Guardians around. In the worst case scenario, Priestess Sasha will come."
"What's killing Ain is so powerful that not even Celestials can do a thing about it. How would a priestess stop it?"
"Do not underestimate the priestesses, Fluonian 21st. They carry the will of Ishmael almost as much as the goddess herself. Goodnight."
The door closed, and Ciel laid back down. He took a deep breath as he passed his hands over his face. He could almost smell the burnt flesh from those crystallized corpses, feel the warm rain of blood and guts again, "If that's her will, I don't want to be anywhere near it."
