Case in point, the man rises to his knees again and raises his hammer once more. "'M very sorry. Y'all seem like nice people." he says. "You can call me Jelly."
Alistair frowns. "...Jelly?" he questions.
"Y'know…because…" Jelly shakes his belly. "Jelly."
…
…
…
"Well, Jelly," Akane says. "It's going to be a pleasure kicking your ass."
Episode 21 (Part 2): The Skarsguard Family
"I'm guessing you're the one who did that to Rina and took Mana?" Akane questions as Jelly simply stands there with his hammer raised above his head. She, Alistair, and Jelly seem to be waiting for the other to make the first move.
Jelly frowns in confusion. "I'm afraid I dunno anyone's names," he says. "I'm just here as the muscle, y'know? But if I'm rememberin' correctly, that girl there and her friend were the last two they ordered me to grab." Jelly says, pauses for a moment as he thinks, and nods. "Yeah. Those were the last two."
Akane grits her teeth, "Why you-"
"Akane." Alistair looks at her harshly, shaking his head. "We'll find everyone they have eventually-"
"I remember specifically 'cause Mister Nicholas told me to isolate her from the others - somethin' about takin' her back to Fiore with 'im. Said he likes the look of her." Jelly continues.
Mana squeezes her eyes shut, forcing the panic and fear induced tears out of her eyes.
I'm scared of the dark but here I am in the dark with a mask that gives me Darkness Magic that I can't even use right now. As if life hasn't been cruel enough. she laughs hollowly. Can't even use my Wind Magic because these damn shackles are metal, not cloth…Are you awake now, Mary?
…
No response.
…
…
…
Akane, Alistair, Ken…someone please find me.
Jelly nods to himself as he thoughtlessly divulges more information, "I know it's wrong but - hey, you alright, Miss? It looks like your hair is starting to catch fire or somethin'." he says, pointing to Akane's literal steaming hair.
Alistair takes a step back, "It does that when she's angry." he says and rephrases when the smoke turns into steadily growing embers at the ends of her hair. "Like, really angry." Alistair says, glancing down at the fiery embers crackling around Akane's twitching hands. "Really, really angry…"
Everyone in the room can feel the sheer anger radiating off of Akane. "You…"
But she isn't looking at Jelly.
She glares daggers at the woman still treating Rina as if she were a doll.
Alistair stares at her in shock, eyeing the growing flames around Akane's hands. Is she really going to…?
Jelly gets the hint and finally swings his hammer back down.
Akane snaps her heated glare back to the giant mercenary and sticks her hand out directly in front of Jelly's hammer, the embers disappearing as she does so, "STEEL SHIELD!"
Jelly stumbles when his hammer meets an entire blockade of intertwining chains that start forming and expanding right where Akane's hand is, shielding her from his blow.
Akane pulls her hand back and the shield moves with it, shifting horizontally. She jumps up, using it as a stepping stool to get to Jelly's neck. Akane swings her hand back, a long singular forming in her hand.
Jelly, his battle smarts clearly being stronger than his social ones, immediately tries to stop her. He makes a move to grab Akane's free arm but she moves faster and lassos Jelly's neck with the chain. With a strong, rage-fueled tug, Akane jumps back and pulls Jelly to the ground, the man falling to the ground with a loud thud.
Alistair blinks. "Well then." he says to no one but himself.
"Don't fuck with me, old man." she snaps, stomping over and stepping on Jelly's neck. "Where is she?"
Before Jelly can answer, Akane and Alistair hear the door behind them open and a shiver goes down their backs. Not because of fear, no, but because the sheer aura of whoever that is is just so…icky.
Matching the description Rina gave them to a tee, the man currently standing in the doorway is no doubt their target, Marcel Skarsguard.
Marcel is an undeniably attractive man but there's also something horribly, horribly unsettling about him. He has orange hair, gelled back with what looks like way too much gel. He has dark blue eyes, and currently, a wide grin, exposing his almost too white teeth. Marcel has a few wrinkles, indicative of his age in comparison to Rina's.
"Dearest sister Eva, you have my Queen." Marcel says, his voice dripping with lust as he opens his arms up. "May I?"
The woman combing Rina's hair, Eva, smiles and speaks with her brother like Akane, Alistair, and Jelly aren't standing (well, laying in Jelly's case) right there. "Of course, Marcel. Do you like the way I dressed her up? I tried to complement her eyes." Eva says, putting the comb down and gently fluffing up Rina's hair.
Marcel walks past the two Mages and lone mercenary, zoning in on Eva and the still unconscious Rina. He's a tall and imposing man, making Akane feel incredibly small when he passes by. Marcel wears an expensive black coat over a crisp turquoise button up shirt tucked into black dress pants. He also wears black boots. Coming from the rich family Rina said he does, Marcel has some golden, expensive looking jewelry on his person as well: a watch, pendant, and a ring.
Marcel takes a seat on the empty cushion next to Rina and reaches for her-
"Chain Eruption."
Marcel's and Eva's eyes widen when chains erupt from the ground on either side of them, picking them up and dangling them in the air away from Rina. The unconscious girl comfortably flops onto the sofa cushion.
Their eyes snap towards the perpetrator - one of Akane's hands on the ground and the other still holding Jelly in place with the chain noose.
"Alistair-"
"Already on it."
Marcel and Eva watch as Alistair sinks into the ground, turning into a puddle of water. He reemerges in front of Rina.
Marcel suddenly pulls an ornate knife out of his coat pocket-
"Alistair, watch-"
And throws it at Eva.
Akane blinks, as Eva catches it by the blade, unflinching and grinning. She squeezes it harder, making Akane wince. "Fucking psycho, what the hell?" Akane mumbles.
As Alistair reaches for Rina, Marcel points two fingers at the growing pool of blood below Eva and flicks them towards Alistair.
Akane promptly finishes her thought from earlier: "ALISTAIR, WATCH OUT!"
"ALISTAIR, WATCH OUT!"
Ken perks up, looking up towards the topmost balcony. He frowns. "Is that my cue?"
Akane's scream stirs Rina out of her drug induced sleep, the ex-model blinking her eyes open. "Hm…?" she sits up, looking around.
Akane strangling a rather large man with a chain and her other hand flat on the floor, Alistair in front of her slowly getting shorter and shorter, pictures of her framing most of the walls of the room, Marcel Skarsguard and his sister dangling from chains-
Wait, what?
"R-Rina!" Alistair says, grabbing onto her knees and shaking her lightly. "A little help here!"
Rina doesn't have time to panic about Marcel being right there and focuses her attention on Alistair. She looks down, wincing and grimacing when she sees exactly what's making him shorter - he's sinking into a pool of what she knows has to be Eva's blood.
"Oh, sweet Rina, baby, it's good to see you awake~!"
Rina grits her teeth, paling at the sound of Marcel's voice. She powers through, trying to ignore him. "A-Akane!" she calls. "I-I-I need a chain - he's - A-Alistair's sinking into Eva's blood - it won't drop him to the floor below, once he's in that's it!" Rina stammers.
Eva frowns, "Marcy, she remembered what we can do. That doesn't bode well for us, does it?"
Marcel hums. "I disagree, sister, if-"
Akane turns her hand slightly and the chains holding Eva and Marcel slam them into the opposite walls. She creates a few more chains, binding their arms and legs to the wall so they're splayed out like a starfish.
Marcel frowns. "Ouch."
Akane looks down at Jelly threateningly. "Behave."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
…Is he blushing?
"Tch." Akane scoffs and takes her foot off his neck and dematerializes the chain around his neck at the same time. She runs over to Rina and creates another chain, wrapping one end around what can still be seen of Alistair's torso and giving the other to Rina. "Secure enough?" she asks him.
Alistair nods, bracing himself.
Akane nods and moves behind Rina, grabbing the slack of the chain. "I hope that training with Danate can finally pay off." Akane says dryly.
Rina grimaces, "Me too."
"On three."
Rina nods.
"One, two, PULL!"
Mana lets out a shaky breath, the binding around her mouth starting to irritate the corners of her mouth. Her head feels fuzzy and her feet are absolutely burning.
She managed to figure out where the door was after the unfortunate collision her head made with it.
Unfortunate in the sense that the door is enchanted with electricity and every time she touches it she gets a brutal shock.
Mana managed to roll herself to lean on the wall opposite of the door. She's been trying to kick it down ever since she realized but by the gods that electricity…
She slumps back down to the ground, dropping onto her side. Mana's eyes feel heavy but she can't let herself fall asleep. Not yet. Not until someone comes for her.
Whether that be someone from Phoenix Fire or the people who put her here, Mana's had enough of waking up and not knowing where she'll end up.
So tired…
…
…
…
Are you awake yet Mary?
…
Mana sighs.
Whoever attacked me did hit my head after all, and that's where Mary is…I hope she's okay.
With one final tug, Akane and Rina completely pull Alistair out of the quicksand-like pool of blood.
…
…
…
Akane and Rina turn away from Alistair with red cheeks.
"How lewd." Eva sneers.
Marcel grits his teeth. "To show yourself so indecently in front of my sweet Rina…I'll kill you."
Akane groans, covering her face with one of her hands and using the other to untie the white sweater she always has tied around her waist. "Here…please, cover yourself." she says, blindly handing it to Alistair. "And no, I don't want it back. I'll buy another one."
Alistair frowns. "I don't understand," he says.
Rina squeaks. "Y-Your…thing."
"Excuse me?"
"YOUR MANHOOD, ALISTAIR! NO ONE WANTS TO SEE THAT!" Akane snaps.
Alistair looks down.
…
…
…
"...This is unfortunate." Alistair says and takes Akane's offered hoodie without another word.
Akane turns away from him again to glare at the creepy siblings. "A little warning would've been nice, you creepy fucks." she swears.
Eva shrugs. "No one's ever gotten out before. I didn't know that would happen."
Alistair grumbles as he cleans Eva's blood off of his entire lower half with his Water Magic before figuring out how to tie the hoodie around him in a way that would leave him decent on both sides.
Everyone is silent for a moment, unsure of where to go from here.
"Does…Does this mean we won?" Rina asks, unsurely glancing between the chained up Eva and Marcel.
Akane frowns, glancing around the room. There's three doors - the entrance to the room and one on each of the side walls. Based on the layout of this room, Akane can only assume one is a bathroom and the other is a bedroom. And of course, Jelly is obediently sitting in the corner with his hammer.
Hm…
Akane crosses her arms. "This is usually the part where the unexpected reinforcements come out." she says.
Almost as if they were waiting for someone to say something, one of the doors opens and a two-person wheelchair emerges from the room. It holds two people who look like they should be dead already dressed in what Akane can only say are rich people's clothes. It's being pushed by a man with dark red hair and brown eyes who looks a bit younger than Eva.
"Ah, you must be my new woman's friends." the younger man says, pushing the wheelchair to rest between Marcel and Eva. "I'm Nicholas. Tell me, what's the name of the feisty girl with green eyes?" he asks with a grin. "I'm gonna make her my woman."
Akane's hands twitch and her two Phoenix Fire companions watch as she quickly reenters the angry state she was in before Jelly made his second attack.
"Akane." Alistair warns her again.
"Tch." Akane clenches her fist and takes a deep breath in. She lets it out slowly and the growing embers flicker out. "Jelly, do you know where Mana is?" Akane asks without turning to look at the mercenary.
"Y-Yes!" Jelly pipes up. "I can take ya to her!"
Akane glances at Alistair, unsure.
Alistair smiles confidently. "I was one of the S-Class candidates last year for a reason, Akane." he says. "Trust me, I'll be okay."
Akane still doesn't look like she's okay with leaving Alistair but turns away anyways. "We're coming back as soon as we get Mana." she says.
"Of course." Alistair nods.
"...Don't die, stupid exhibisionist."
Alistair rolls his eyes.
"Rina, Jelly, with me!" Akane orders.
Rina jumps. "R-Right!" she nods.
Jelly beams. "'Course!"
Alistair turns back to the family of five with a confident, dangerous look. "I may be half naked but as I said, I was the runner-up for S-Class last year. Clothes or not, I can and will kick your ass. I'm not dying until I reunite with my brothers." he says and takes a fighting stance.
Eva grins. "You absolute fool."
Marcel laughs, "Didn't my darling give you a rundown on what we can do?" he asks.
As soon as Akane is far enough away, the chains holding up Marcel and Eva vaporize and the two drop to the ground, sticking the landing. Eva picks up Marcel's dropped knife and tosses it back to him.
Nicholas hums, "A runner up for S-Class in a legal Guild…this should be interesting."
Marcel grins madly as he raises his knife to his own hand. Nicholas, Eva, and the two in the wheelchair that Alistair can only assume are Mr. and Mrs. Skarsguard, follow suit. "Let's show him the power of Family Blood Magic."
The five of them cut open their own hands and Alistair's battle to survive until Akane returns with reinforcements begins.
"She's behind that door!" Jelly points as they run down one of the many top floor halls.
Akane glares at him. "If you're lying, I'll kill you."
"Kyahh~"
…
"Rina, go with Jelly to the main room and shout down to Ken on the ground floor that it's his turn to help. I'll get Mana." Akane says, not wanting to spend another second with Jelly's odd behavior.
Jelly pouts.
Rina nods. "I'm on it!" she says, turning on her heel and running back in the opposite direction, Jelly on her tail.
Akane continues running towards the door Jelly pointed out. When she reaches it, she instantly reaches for the doorknob and lets out a string of curses and swears when it shocks her.
"FUCKING HELL FUCK MOTHERFUCKER WHAT THE HELL GODS DAMN IT!"
…
…
Akane?
Mana blinks, the sudden screams shocking her out of her drowsiness.
"STUPID BITCH ASS DOOR WHAT THE FUCK-"
Never in her life did Mana think that such long strings of profanity would make her heart flutter.
Akane!
"KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!"
Ken jumps at the sound of Rina's voice. He looks up, smiling when he sees his guildmate safe and sound. "Miss Ri-!"
"AKANE SAYS IT'S TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!"
Ken's smile drops.
He sighs as he adjusts his tie. "How did that Mage tell me to do it again…?" Ken asks himself, thinking of the temporary telepathy spell that Mage from that one guild cast on everybody before they put their grand rescue plan into motion. "Ah, that's right."
Ken clears his throat, his purple eyes beginning to glow.
"Brace yourselves."
PF x AH x SS
A/N travel in my head
venture off into the unknown
idk where this chapter came from LOL :bobdance: