Episode 31: The 'Peaceful' Town of Honeywell
"Welcome to the Honeycomb Tavern," Ariana says as she leads the Phoenix Fire Mages into the building. "I'll speak with the owner and get you five a couple of rooms." she says with a smile and a nod before walking up to the bar.
"Ha," Emile snorts. "I get it. Honeycomb because each room is like a cell in a honeycomb." he says, amused.
"Wow, I can't believe you actually said something smart." Akane says in faux shock.
Veiss scoffs, "Don't be jealous you didn't put that together first, Kumiko."
Mana frowns. "Is everything important here going to have the word 'honey' in it?" she wonders.
Always asking the important questions, Mana. Mary says dryly.
"Guys," Novem speaks up. "Why is everyone staring at us?" he asks.
Team No Name and their exhausted chaperone turn their heads to find that although the chatter inside of the tavern hasn't died down, almost every head in the building is turned towards them.
Akane cringes, "I told you we were gonna stand out." she says and unties her white hoodie from around her waist, pulling it on and zipping it up. "At least if Veiss takes off his jacket and changes his pants, he'll do perfectly fine at blending in." she says. "Maybe Myling too, but she's out of commission right now…"
"Why do you say that?" Veiss asks with a frown.
"You know, I'll admit that you're probably the smartest person between us four, but right now you're a fucking moron." Akane says, rolling her eyes. "Your whole aesthetic, dumbass. You're not pastel colored or anything but your everything is lighter than the rest of us."
"They always get a bit anxious when we receive visitors," Ariana says as she rejoins the group. "We are the most peaceful town in Valiance, after all: they're just nervous about keeping the peace." she explains. "I informed the owner that you're Guild Mages so he'll get the word out and the excitement will die down."
Veiss raises an eyebrow. "Everyone's a peacekeeper, huh? You guys don't even fight amongst each other? Ever?" he asks.
Ariana shakes her head. "Of course we do, we're human, after all." she says. "But it's generally resolved very quickly, we're all pacifists here." Ariana says and turns on her heel. "Come, I'll show you to your rooms. I'll send the doctor over as soon as you're settled."
"How much, by the way?" Emile asks. "For the rooms?"
Ariana shakes her head once again. "The rooms - and any food you require - are on the house. Think of it as another reward for taking care of Mr. Drasotsurs request. Mrs. Novel's care will also be free of charge." she says. "We simply want to get you back to peak health and send you back home. Don't you want the same?" Ariana asks in a tone that sends a shiver down everyone's back.
And with that, Ariana leads the Phoenix Fire Mages to their two rooms without another peep out of any of them.
It's not too much of a surprise to see that the sheets and decorations in both rooms are as pastel colored as everything else about the town.
Once Ariana shows them where the towels are in the ensuite bathrooms, she leaves to go collect their client, Avacid Drasotsurs, and Honeywell's best doctor, Kozune Novel.
"Aaaand there you go." Veiss says as he and Mana carefully set Myling down on one of the beds. "Are you okay, Myling?" he asks.
Myling sighs tiredly. "I'll be fine. I think I just twisted my ankle…badly." she says. "Maybe I cracked the bones there a bit too."
Akane crosses her arms. "Well if this Kozune Novel is what Ariana hypes her up to be, you'll be fine in less time than we thought." she says.
Mana frowns. "Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this place?" she asks. "The way Ariana keeps talking about getting us out of here as soon as possible and how they greeted us at the entrance of the town like some sort of cult…I don't like it."
Veiss nods. "I was thinking the same thing. They're treating us kindly but Lady Ariana seems too keen on getting us out of here." he says thoughtfully.
"Yeah, she's totally hot or whatever - ow - but they're all definitely hiding something." Emile says, rubbing his head and pouting at Akane.
When they all turn to look at Myling, she has to mentally stop her soul from leaving her body.
"D-Don't look at me like that." Myling stammers, fiddling with the brim of her hat. "With Master N-Nadine's new status we can't just - we can't leave without making sure nothing bad is going on." she says. "Our actions reflect on her more than they did b-before." Myling says.
"So," Veiss starts.
"What's the plan?" Emile asks.
Myling blinks. "The p-plan?" she asks. "Isn't that obvious?" Myling says and points a finger at Veiss. "He's going to be our plant." she says. "Which means you have to hide before Avacid or Dr. Novel sees you. Now."
When Avacid and Kozune arrive (pastel red and green hair respectively), it's fortunately without Lady Ariana.
"It's very nice to meet all of you." Avacid says as he closes the door behind himself and Kozune. "Thank you very much for completing my request," he says with a relieved smile. "Now we can all travel between Cresthill and Honeywell without fear of being ambushed." Avacid says and pulls out a large pouch, placing it on one of the end tables. "Your payment."
Akane looks Avacid up and down with a frown. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're a big guy." she says, gesturing to his tall stature and strong build. "And those Howling Flag guys were pretty weak. Is there a particular reason you couldn't have taken care of them yourself?" Akane asks.
Avacid laughs lightly and awkwardly. "Well…hasn't Lady Ariana said it already? We're all pacifists here." he says. "Even if I did possess the physical and magical strength to take them down, it's not…I just couldn't, y'know?" Avacid says quickly. "Anyways, I must be going. Thank you again." he says with a small bow and leaves the room.
"Right." Kozune says and turns to Myling with a friendly smile. "Let's get you checked over, hm? Where does it hurt?"
Somewhere close to Honeywell…
"Nel, this is…creepy."
'Nel' gives the girl a look. "I don't want to hear that from someone who plays with the corpses of her victims." she says. "A little hypocritical, don't you think?"
"And, instead of encountering them or finding any information about them, we're getting reports of an infamous Dark Mage from Stygian Gospel wandering around the nearby area with two young people." Regine says with a frown. "However, we haven't actually met them ourselves yet so Noah and I are heading back to Arkcester after this ride. Be careful." she warns and glances at Myling. "Witch hat over there is the only one who would be able to go toe to toe with her."
Nel Alath smiles. "And I told you already, didn't I? The soul doesn't always leave its body when it dies. For someone like me, that's perfect." she says.
Nel is a woman on the taller side, somewhere around 5'9", and she has dark red hair that reaches down to her lower back. Her bright yellow eyes gleam with something much darker than her faux innocent smile suggests. To the less perceptive, she could be described as angelic by her appearance alone. She wears a plain blue shirt and a dark colored skirt.
"And I also could've sworn I said this too, Shizani…" Nel says, her smile dropping. "You're only here because my father asked me to bring you. If I had it my way, I wouldn't be here babysitting a brat from Revenant Beasts. So keep your mouth shut and obey my orders. Am I understood?"
"Noah insists the description of the girl traveling with the Stygian Gospel Mage matches that of a Revenant Beasts Mage he's encountered before, a girl with Animal Magic that's coincidentally very similar to his Animal Possession Magic."
Shizani mimes zipping her roguish colored lips up and throwing away the key, making Nel roll her eyes.
Shizani Saku is a girl not much younger than Emile with her long red hair done into five braids down her back. She's almost sickeningly pale (but not quite) and she has almond-shaped sky blue eyes.
Shizani's entire outfit is…rather odd. Especially for someone with a job (albeit that job is murder). She wears a forest green polo with a tan skirt that goes down to just above her knees. Her shoes, polished to the zeroes (ba dum tss), are pitch black and she also wears a white headband with the words 'DO IT RIGHT' on them, big black block letters. Everything is old and tattered. The only thing that seems to be remotely intact is the small bracelet on her left wrist that looks to be made out of about ten granite rocks.
The remaining member of their party suddenly appears between Shizani and Nel, a bright smile on his face. "I got them all, Nel-chan! Go get them!"
Nel smirks.
"Neither of us have any information about the third member of their party."
Minutes later, Nel, Shizani, and their third silver haired companion leave behind a graveyard of unearthed caskets and now soulless corpses.
Nel's Magic is an unintentional mercy to the souls she gets from corpses that won't let them go. They're no longer trapped in a dark, wooden box and because of her, they finally get to see the light of day once again. That's why she's not a big fan of taking souls from corpses.
However, before she lets them go to swap them out for fresh, stronger souls, they have to commit whatever atrocities Nel is in the mood for; atrocities that they never would have committed if they were still alive and in control of their autonomy.
And to Nel, that makes her unavoidable kindness worth it.
"Come on, we'll arrive in Honeywell in no time." Nel says, pulling her map back out. "And then we'll take care of the list of names Master Raoul provided and the alliance between Stygian Gospel and Revenant Beasts will be official.
Honeywell | Honeycomb Tavern
Akane's about to turn around and leave them to take a shower until she blinks and Mana is suddenly standing beside Kozune - or rather, Mary is standing beside Kozune - an angry and hostile look on her face as she presses the barrel of the pistol that hasn't managed to manifest since Emile returned it to her all those weeks ago against Kozune's temple..
"M-Mary?" Emile stutters, slowly approaching Mary.
Akane frowns, looking between Myling and Mary. "...Emile, don't." she says lowly.
Emile looks at Akane, confused. "What? What do you mean don't?" he asks. In response, Akane looks pointedly at Myling and Emile tenses. "Oh."
Myling looks just as hostile.
Kozune's smile turns bittersweet. "I thought you looked familiar, Manami." she says and glances in Mary/Mana's direction. "Or…that blue eye all of a sudden…" Kozune frowns. "Could it be…is that you, Mary?" she wonders.
Mary grits her teeth. "Don't speak to me and don't speak to Mana like we're friends." she snaps. "I made the mistake of trusting Calypso Aurelia at her word. I won't make the same mistake again. If you don't want a bullet in your head, start talking."
"Kozune Novel…" Myling frowns, glaring at the doctor. "Tell me, what's the daughter of a Revenant Beasts Dark Mage doing playing doctor in Honeywell?"
PF x AH x SS
A/N it is short but it is beautiful
villain reveal poggies stan nel and shizani and the silver haired guy