Chapter Twenty-Four:
Ticktock
|iii.| Reim. The night before the Summit.|
Seraphina's somber humming bounced harmlessly off of wet and dull stone walls, their presence dulling her voice as it traveled and turning them into far-off cries. The young Regalia kept merrily to her duties as she alone had remained from her sisters in order to continue preparing the garden for what was to come.
Their young magi, Titus, decreed to the Regalias that his mother's chamber would become her memorial. Somewhere where Reimians could come to and pay their respects now after her ashes had been scattered to the wind. Of course, the handful of them who knew where the Sacerdos Maxima was actually laid to rest knew this only to be a way to appease those who still held onto the belated magi. And many did. One didn't simply live 200 years and amount to no veneration through the generations she impacted. It remained a hollow tomb, all the same. Nothing but meaningless decoration for the faithful.
That is what made it the perfect place to set her greatest work of art. All it needed was some finer details for it to be ready for her masterpiece.
Which is what had her so late into the night cultivating the flora that bloomed with ease with just some injected magoi. The buds she planted were taken from a plentiful garden; surely, Miss Noé would be delighted to have them there, even when she had altered them slightly to better suit her needs. Brushing her fingers gently across the unopened buds, several vines sprouted and engulfed what stone they had in sight, which for this particular batch, had it wrapped around a nearby column.
They wouldn't bloom yet. They couldn't. If the other Regalias found out what sort of flowers she had been planting, they would burn them to ashes. So she held back their flourishing with magic. Only until the time was right. But even with them as simple buds, Seraphina could already imagine the sight they would be.
They'll compliment her splendidly.
"What freakish garden you have here, little priestess."
Her head tilted towards his lilting voice but she didn't bother to glance back in the least. There wasn't any need to. Seraphina knew the thorn that had returned to her side simply from his taunt.
Not allowing Rakah to upset her and ruin her splendid mood, she moved to the next buds that lay near the feet of the stone table. They had all claimed that white blooms would suit it best. What fools. If they knew what would be displayed here forevermore, they would agree with her choice instead.
Passing her wand over the buds was enough to have the already planted sprouts stretch outward and even further as they wrapped around the stone slab. Just before they could bloom, Seraphina aimed her wand once more and cast ice magic, perpetually halting their growth.
When Rakah noticed he was pointedly being ignored, he took it upon himself to be heard.
"Time's up, Seraphina. Is the parasite complete or not?"
Her fingers flinched at him calling her beautiful mark a meager parasite. There was no merit in arguing with him, however, so Seraphina allowed the insult to pass before letting her shoulders fall, dejected.
"No, Mister Rakah. I...couldn't restart the mark's progress. Master has agreed with your prior conclusion, as well. We cannot afford to lose any more time."
Rakah scoffed behind her and it took everything she had to hold back from tearing him down right then and there. What worked like a charm to keep her from doing so was her logic. Even a talented magician like herself held no candle to another with a seal, much less one with four of them.
No, Rakah was a beast unto himself.
"I'll be taking Grace of Sunlight from her then."
One that only a monster of equal power would be capable of destroying.
"Please do."
At last, Seraphina turned to face the man who claimed to be a follower of her Master with disdain in her heart. She had always doubted the claim. No retainer who wanted to fulfill their Master's desire would have such a forlorn expression about accomplishing the duty they swore to fulfill. And though it did not show in her own expression, her contempt was more than portrayed in the slight narrowing of her seafoam green eyes.
Rakah spun on his heels, readying to leave by using the bit of Light magic he still possessed when Seraphina thought better of letting him leave with the last word.
"By the way, Mister Rakah." Her interruption stopped him momentarily as he glanced over his shoulder. With all the angelic sweetness only she could muster, Seraphina smiled kindly his way, the gesture blatantly facetious in its entirety. "Master wishes for you to remain vigilant whilst you hunt the bird of prey down. Or as she so delicately put it, 'We cannot afford the same mistake any further'."
Oh, how gorgeous that hateful scowl of his was. Almost had her wishing she could freeze it permanently in place to keep it as another piece in her collection. So tainted, though. What a shame. Rakah didn't allow her the satisfaction of relishing in his rage. No sooner had he glared back at her did he face forward to disappear with a burst of light.
A coy smile reached her lips as she spun around to face the stone slab once more, intending to continue her work, when one of them caught her attention. One of the buds had bloomed despite her magic, and instead of an incandescent white, its petals burned her irises with a bright crimson.
How beautiful. Now was not the time, though.
"Why deceive the boy?"
Her hands delicately cupped the vibrant bloom in her hands as she plucked it from the vines to bring it up close to admire. Yes, this most certainly would be the perfect flower with which to decorate her.
"I did no such thing. What I told Mister Rakah was nothing but the truth. I hadn't been able to progress the mark to completion ever since it halted," Seraphina clarified. "It reached its culmination point by itself; I had no hand in that. So no, Master, I did not lie. I could never lie to Mister Rakah. Besides, he will be aiding you in obtaining Grace of Sunlight along with Miss Noé, right? Isn't that why you asked for us to retrieve her in particular, unlike the others?"
Though silence was her reply, Seraphina didn't need her Master to respond to know she was in the right. No matter who obtained Grace of Sunlight, their Master would be satisfied with the results. And now that the mark was complete, all her mark needed in order to reach full maturity she needed it to was the right catalyst.
And once it does...
Frost ate away at her fingers until it suddenly engulfed the bloom in her hands entirely, encapsulating its beauty for eternity in ice.
I will finally have my most beautiful masterpiece
|ii.|
Age-old ruins were split open as an immense power struck through and burst outward in a frenzied array of sharpened yellow quartz. From the jagged teeth of such a monster, Rakah shot out first, foraging the ocean's water along with him, and not a second later the bright flash of blinding light that was Noé's half-corroded djinn equip chased after him.
The sunlight above flickered with every crack of magoi that surrounded her as she flew towards Rakah and stopped before him. The young magician hovered midair with his wand aloft to call forth torrents of water to protect himself and trained his eyes on the deranged woman before him. He watched as those emerald eyes narrowed, the golden cracks across the umber edges of her eyes deepening at the sight of Blooming Wave's insignia answering his call. A sneered form at the sight of it and was enough for them to spread further.
"I'm going to kill you."
She's lost it.
Rakah opened his mouth ready to quip back, but before words could even leave his lips the sun flickered once again warning him of what was to come only a fraction of a second before it did. In that blink of darkness, she disappeared but unlike before didn't return when the sunlight did. At least not where he could see her. But the chill that ran down his spine a split second later told him everything.
There wasn't any mistaking the killing intent that hung so heavily in the air behind him.
Rakah reacted before she could pierce him through with Light spears, summoning Peaceful Darkness' most useful spell, Devouring Maw. The dark spheres of nothingness floated around him while the one that he held at the palm of his hand served him well to take the brunt of the spear Noé had aimed to impale through his head. Her eyes widened and nostrils flared at the sight but even in her blood-thirst she knew better than to lay a finger on the Devouring Maw. The rest of the spheres opened in tandem, devouring the cyclones that were rampaging nearby. Blooming Waves brightened behind him as from the dark voids where the water disappeared into, ice spears shot out with hellish speeds only intense gravitational pressure could create.
Noé put distance between the two, taking the brunt of the first few icicles that escaped the void before turning to destroy the rest with her arrows as they came at her. Before long, a sneer once again flashed across her face seconds before the sunlight flickered. Upon its return, the quartz wings weighing on her back cocooned her entire body to keep her safely within.
That's new, he thought somewhat somberly and with a click of his tongue.
Andromalius' djinn equip wasn't powerful enough to conjure anything beyond weapons, but he supposed that the ridiculous surplus of magoi she kept siphoning from the sun every time it flickered kept those things sturdy as could be. Devouring Maw would get through them eventually but with them both having an unending supply of magoi, it'd be a never-ending struggle. Something his body wouldn't endure while using multiple seals at a time.
Rakah needed her to get on the offensive. Hmm. The sight of the bright quartz opening twinkling under the sun gave him an idea.
Abruptly, Rakah turned his focus onto the ruins where a good majority remained trapped under Blooming Waves' Boreal Core and aimed Devouring Maw. Just as icicles were about to go through the opening, the sun flickered and Noé flashed to intercept his attack. Her wings cracked as they unfurled, readying to cocoon her yet again, but stopped short as her eyes widened. Her reaction had Rakah scoffing.
Quick-witted as always.
Cocooning herself like before would endanger those below with ricocheted ice. The only way to avoid such an outcome was exactly what he expected her to do and precisely what she began doing as she brandished two serrated quartz blades to take down the icicles as they came.
"This is the safest bet," Rakah mumbled under his breath. "For the both of us."
Lifting his wand, he flicked and swayed his wrist to create intricate movements in midair. Orchestrating his commands, the spheres circled around him all the while bombarding her with larger and larger icicles. Noé would stand her ground, of that he had no doubt, but she wouldn't stand for long. Icicles as large and as many as he hurled her way were chipping away at her; for each handful she deftly crushed under the strike of her blades, one or two slipped her defenses, harming her. The wounds were superficial at best, but in the frantic state she was in, her defenses would be the least in her mind. Especially when protecting those below was first and foremost in her mind.
That's always been your biggest flaw. Brute force over strategy.
"You and Ish both, hardheaded brutes till the end." A chuckle escaped him as he finished creating the formulae for an even greater spell, the bright green insignia of Rondo of Whirlwind glistening above his head at being beckoned. "I suppose that's why I was always in charge of the plans."
Raising his wand over his head to focus elsewhere, his gaze fell towards the ruins and Noé. Doubt threatened to lodge in his throat at the sight of her fighting so fiercely but it left quickly when the memory of his teacher from Alexandria replaced it.
"What we do is for the betterment of the world, Rakah. Hesitation will cost us everything. Squander it and all compassion within you if you must, but never let it get the best of you. You were chosen to save this world alongside us. That means sometimes making tough decisions. Horrendous and unthinkable, yet necessary. We must be strong enough to make them. Never forget that."
"I won't, Teacher." Never again.
The wind picked up speed around the area as a whole and in a matter of seconds created a grand tornado that hauled alongside with it the ocean creating an even larger cyclone than before. It took only a single thought of his for the cyclone to shrink in size until it had only Noé within it. She couldn't escape from it now. Not when he was using all the Gifts in his possession to keep her at bay.
As the cumulonimbus cloud overhead grew larger and darker, the rumbling from within threatening to shake the earth to its core, Rakah felt the surge of electricity coursing through his body responding to his call. Much like the sun flickering to Noé's every recharge of magoi, the thunder above roared ferociously the more Rakah extracted magoi from it as well. But instead of using it right away like she so recklessly had, Rakah stored it, allowing it to bounce between himself and the cloud and gain even bigger force.
He'd need it for what he was about to do. Both the strength and the resolve.
It wasn't until he felt his body at the brink of rupturing from within from the amount of Lightning magic he accumulated that he brought his wand down at last with a somber grimace and a slight mist in his cold amethyst eyes.
Forgive me.
It ended in a split second.
At his command, the dark cloud above thundered only once with a deafening roar before a grand bolt of blinding lightning struck the water cyclone. It burst almost instantly in a shower of sparks and water, leaving nothing else in its wake.
Not even a body.
Soon. That unending thirst… He thought with a deep sigh. At least she'll be free of it now.
He waited, waited, and waited until that short minute felt like an eternity. One that should have ended with him gaining Grace of Sunlight.
"Pathetic."
Rakah felt his blood run cold at the sound of her voice—at just how hoarse and utterly broken it sounded. Unable to do much else, he glanced over his shoulder at the towering figure behind him, eyes widening as a newfound fear engulfed him at the sight of the monstrosity standing so gallantly over him. Rigid claws cracked as they flexed into what could only be described as a fist all the while a devilish smirk spread across completely umber skin lit by the shine of bright cyan eyes.
It was the mere sight of her form now as she brought her fist down upon him that brought a single thought to mind.
That bitch lied.
—{ii}—
"Stop! Stop it! Noélia!"
The sun flickered. The taste of dried blood coated her dry mouth and throat. Yet in the darkness of a sunless sky, all she saw was white.
"Noélia, snap out of it!"
Snap out of what? How could Andromalius expect her to do anything else but this? Especially after having watched him use all their gifts so callously. This weed didn't deserve to be plucked out like the others.
It deserved to be burned to the damn ground.
With the countless malicious ways of torturing him to death that rushed through her head came a surge of strength she couldn't ignore. It pulsated through her body giving her strength through the pain and weakness that came from her body quickly desiccating from the inside out. All of that magoi coursing through her made it all a moot point though. It urged her forth, a mighty war fanfare ringing through her ears and drumming up a storm in her chest.
She didn't know how she stopped the electrified cyclone from frying her like it should have. All she saw was that brief flash of white when it ended before seeing red at the sight of the mage boy's back after flashing behind him.
The fear in those beautiful amethyst eyes fanned the flames within her and before her own heart could beat, her claw came down on him.
His borg was but a feeble shield against them; nothing more than a bubble that popped so easily with her touch. Warm blood seeped through her claws as she slashed his back in full. What should have been a death blow was relegated to a deep wound instead because of it though. The only purpose it served was delaying the inevitable.
Emerald eyes darkening, Noé collected the light in her hand and formed a dagger, ready to pierce his heart and end it all, but stopped short at the sight of Devouring Maw flying towards her.
The dark spheres caught the ends of her quarts wings as Noé evaded them to draw closer and finish what she started. Fear kept him alive, though. It kept him on his toes and using everything and anything at his disposal to keep her at bay.
But that same fear gave her the greatest advantage. Rakah had never been clumsier, never more desperate now that he faced the certainty of death at her hand and Noé could smell it. The sheer thought of ripping his throat apart with her talons was enough to drive her onward and keep pushing him further towards the edge.
Her movements were flawless in comparison. There was not an ounce of hesitation in them. Each strike of her Light daggers, each piercing arrows, each tear of her claws and talons—all of them were aimed with deathly precision. And though the weed held on to dear life, the damage was still being done. His borg was continuously breaking and wounds were being dealt. If she didn't get the pleasure of ripping him apart, she would at least have the satisfaction of watching him writhe as he bled to death.
"You are on the right. This is what he owes for his impudence."
"—é—"
"The boy believes himself special; above consequence. He is not. None of you are."
"—oé—"
"There is only one thing that defying me will gain you."
"Noé, look out!"
"Death."
"Onee-san, stop!"
Clank!
Chest heaving and mind slowly coming down from its high, her emerald eyes did their best to focus on the scene before her. The brief flash of brilliant gold and bright blue that crossed her eye as she brought her Light blades down for the finishing blow were beginning to take form in her blurred vision. It was hard to get a clear image in her eyes with how this annoying noise kept ringing in her ear and not letting her mind see clearly.
For her, though, she could recognize the blue-haired brat anywhere, and it was clear to her what they were doing.
"Move."
Her voice sounded unlike anything she'd ever heard. Noé couldn't even call it hers anymore.
"No."
The buzzing distorted their voice, but Noé knew it was them. Her grip on the blades tightened before she pushed them forward in an attempt to scare them away, but her blades refused to listen. Only the sharp screeching of metal against her quartz replied. Growing impatient, Noé finally snapped back at the kid.
"Move, Ignis!"
Her own voice echoed in the silence and rang out into the air. The voice that answered, however, did so calmly yet sternly, knowing full well their answer.
"I'm not Auntie Ignis."
The umber hand gripping her blades slackened and her fury ebbed at the response, the incessant ringing that impeded her senses leaving with it. All at once, her senses were bombarded with all she unconsciously ignored.
Before her stood Aladdin, holding his staff before him with a borg conjured to protect the one beside him—a bloody and tattered mess that she barely recognized as Rakah. The man could barely hold himself conscious, let alone conjure magic or remain upright. What held him aloft was Aladdin as the young magi held one of Rakah's arms over his small shoulders while aiming his staff towards her.
The magician's breathing was ragged, barely capable of dragging enough air into his lungs before needing to cough the blood that leaked into them and appeared beaten to an inch of his life.
"Be done with him."
Her arms inched forth at the intrusive thought that crossed her mind but before they could strike down both Aladdin and Rakah, they met resistance once again. It was this time that Noé finally noticed it hadn't been Aladdin who had stopped her in her tracks. It was difficult to see through her periphery but judging by the two distinct weapons blocking her, it wasn't hard to discern who dared stop her.
With a guttural growl, Noé bared her teeth at them, "Out of my way."
"Hardly an option if you mean to continue on such senseless rampage," Kouen responded sternly, those crimson eyes of his fiercely locking down on her with severe scrutiny. The black and silver sheen on Astaroth's blade gleamed as he parried one of her blades to keep it at bay.
"Noé, please." There was no mistaking that voice nor the javelin that kept the other blade locked and immobile. She couldn't quite see Muu's face, but the tone of his words told her everything his sullen expression would have. "Stand down."
The quartz slid down the javelin's blade as he held it back towards him; her eyes attempted to follow it but stopped short at the cool sensation of metal pricking the nape of her neck.
"Let's not make any hasty decisions right now."
The slight crackle of electricity tickled her ears, bristling her feathers, and shocked her lightly where the sharp edge of Baal's blade made contact as the little sailor boy held it against her.
Begrudgingly, Noé understood her position then.
Stalemate.
"Onee-san..." Aladdin's soothing voice caught her off guard. His expression wasn't hardened anymore. It now held an air of concern as his brow furrowed and his bright blue eyes softened. "Doing this won't change anything."
"No," she admitted, but bared her teeth and pressed her blades against the sword and javelin impeding her way. "But it'll bring me great satisfaction to kill him."
"That's not true and you know it." Something about the way Aladdin's voice softened had Noé hung on his every word. "Even if you hate him, killing him will not end your suffering. It'll only add to it."
"He killed my friends."
"No, he didn't." Noé flinched at the finality of his words, the faint visage of his father appearing before her at the way his gaze hardened ever the slightest. "Your friends got to live happy and fulfilling lives and passed away many, many years ago. What he did is horrible, but those he murdered weren't your friends. Killing him won't bring those he killed back, much less the ones you've been searching for this whole time, onee-san. And you know it."
His words, spoken so lightly and gently, hurt like a stab to the heart. Not because she couldn't discern this herself but because it was the one truth she never admitted to out loud.
She'd known since the beginning that finding her friends was never an option. Holding onto the idea of them was what little solace she had left in a world that had taken so much from her. Going back to that beautiful peace she had with them kept her sane. It kept her going. And so she searched for them.
Even when she knew that she wouldn't find the loving faces of her beloved family ever again.
"Noélia, listen to the boy." Noé felt her throat dry, but not because of the seal. Andromalius had only ever sounded so kind and gentle once in her life: the night Elly died. "Do not ignore what he says. Don't let the bastard's blood taint your hands any further."
Noé gritted her teeth at the thought. Despite the satisfaction sure it would bring her, she could also see how brief that elation would be. Aladdin and Andromalius were right. That brief sense of ecstasy wasn't worth dirtying her hands.
Even so…
"I can't just let him get away with what he's done," she said through gritted teeth.
"You're right and that's why he'll give them to you, the Gifts." Aladdin's sudden confession had her brow furrowing this time around and lifting her head to stare with perplexion back at him. Those loving blue eyes glared at Rakah who Noé wasn't quite sure was conscious until a fit of coughs took over him again.
"Don't give me that look," he barely managed to croak out.
The sound of his voice—the mere fact that he was alive—had her blood boiling anew and had her inching forward in an attempt to attack him. Thankfully, Kouen and Muu stood their ground while Sinbad inched forward to keep her in place.
"They have to be given willingly," she countered. "He won't even try."
Aladdin nodded, a fine line forming across his lips as he once again returned his gaze towards her. "Spare him and he will."
Rakah appeared to want to protest, but when his coughs cut through his sentences, his excuses were rendered moot to all. He was in no condition to deny them. Not if he truly valued his life.
It was then, after a solid minute of trying and failing to avoid this bargain, that Rakah finally hung his head in defeat. His one arm that hung limply by his side rose shakily with his palm open towards her. It was then that, as if beckoned by him, the insignias in their much smaller forms appeared as simple pearl-sized orbs and circled around his open hand.
Something akin to relief washed over her at the sight of them, unbound to him as he freely offered them to her.
This was it. The whole reason she'd traveled the world and fought so many battles time and time again.
My friends.
Noé cautiously loosened her grip on the golden quartz in her hands that shattered into bright lights the moment she released them. Following suit and with Aladdin's encouragement, Kouen and Muu carefully took away their weapons to give way for her to approach Rakah. Cautious at first, Noé waited for a long moment to make sure this wasn't a ruse. But a single glance at Aladdin placated her fears.
Aladdin wouldn't lie to her. He knew and had been through much of the same suffering to hurt her like that. They were too alike for him to convincingly do so.
Her shoulders relaxed upon arriving at such a conclusion, the bicolored quartz wings on her back falling slightly as she slowly flew over to stand closer to Aladdin and Rakah's open hand. Gaze trembling for a split moment, Noé took that instance to compose herself at what she now had before her.
After having chased those Gifts for what felt like an eternity and now being given them willingly felt like a dream. But it wasn't; the numbing ache from her back and the searing pain in her throat kept her from believing that this was anything other than reality. This was it. After thousands of years, she'd done it. Carefully, her hand reached out, fingers a hair's breadth away from attaining what eluded her for so long that a faint smile cracked her chapped lips.
Just two more after this. Just two more and I'll be done. Just two more and—
"We'll finally weed out our garden."
Pain and panic suddenly struck her all at once. In that split second, it had Noé doubling over and screaming in anguish from how utterly unbearable the sudden shooting pain that struck down her spine was. It exploded from her back and only became greater and greater by the second. The sunlight refracted and flickered so erratically overhead impeding her vision but soon enough she finally noticed what caused it.
Her quartz wings were growing out of control.
From her periphery, Noé caught sight of all those around her retreating as the quartz on her back jutted outward and precariously swung around.
"Noé, what are you doing?!"
"It isn't me!" Her own voice cracked from the desiccation, but her declaration was heard loud and clear. Crossing her arms over her chest and clutching at her own shoulders, Noé did her damnedest to withdraw them but nothing was stopping their rampage as she felt light crystals jut even more out of her wing and explode outward. "I-I can't stop it!"
"What do you mean—" Andromalius gasped and Noé could only hope it was from an epiphany. "The parasite."
Suddenly, it clicked. Her nails instantly dug into her shoulder drawing blood and Noé felt another surge of crystals shooting from her wing.
It's the damn thing.
It found a way to hasten the process. That nasty voice in her head, was that it all this time? No, this wasn't the time to waste on useless theories. What she needed now was to subdue it.
Clutching at her shoulder, Noé focused through the pain and gritted her teeth at summoning what she could of her Light magic onto the source of that thing on her body. The pain surged again, this time from within, as Noé felt the parasite writhing within her at being attacked so blatantly. The pain on her back eased ever the slightest, but only for a split second before the quartz wings began to rampage out once more, wrenching a cry from her.
"Noé, what happened? Why didn't it—!"
"It's not enough!" Noé tried again only to verify what the first attempt had already told her. "I can't subdue it!"
"Noé!"
The familiar voice had her lifting her head to meet a pair of baby blue eyes. Yunan held himself aloft with his magic and protected the other two, Aladdin and Titus, as they stood beside him with their own staffs held at the ready.
Fear strangled her at the thought of harming them and had Noé trying to yet again subjugate the parasite taking control of her. This time what she managed to accomplish was a small reprieve as she completely snuffed the sunlight out and held what amounted to its light in her hands and against her shoulder.
From within her, she could sense the disgusting way the parasite screeched and writhed from the pain, and how that in turn was turning her own body from the inside out. But that didn't matter. Noé didn't care what happened to her now so long as this didn't cause further harm to them. In what voice she had left, Noé hissed out at them through gritted teeth.
"Leave!" she demanded. "Teleport everyone as far away from here as possible and leave me to deal with this!"
"Don't think for a second that's going to happen!" Titus shouted back. Even despite their lack of color in this lightless instant, Noé could still see the determination that shone through.
"Your body won't last much longer against all that Light magic your putting against it," Aladdin retorted, concern marring his expression. "You can't keep going on like this!"
"It's the only way to keep it controlled!"
"There's a different way we could try." Yunan's sudden outburst had her head snapping towards him. He couldn't see the color in his eyes either but what she could see was something she hadn't seen in his eyes since the first time she met him: hope.
Noé, fearful at first, couldn't do much else except nod. With the parasite at bay and only flailing about without really attacking, the three magi approached her as Yunan quickly gave a rundown of what their plan was. Hearing it, though, Noé felt much more distraught than she hoped she would.
"N-No, I won't put you three in danger."
"There's no time to bother about such things," Titus shouted back. "We're doing this, whether you like it or not."
Aladdin nodded. "Titus is right. We won't just let that thing take over you, onee-san."
"And though this is all we can do, we will make sure it's enough." Noé saw how tightly Yunan gripped his staff along with the certainty in his gaze and only then did she begrudgingly agree to it.
"Hurry then," she bemoaned, the sun at last flickering and threatening to return. "I won't last like this much longer."
Titus and Aladdin flew back quite a distance away on either side of Noé while Yunan flew over to stand a distance away in front of her. The two younger magi conjured Strength magic in unison creating two dark energy rings that encircled Noé and the massive form she'd become. Mindlessly, quartz continued to grow not only from her back but all over her body but now restrained did so at a much slower pace. With this leeway, Yunan concentrated on the formula he was to cast as rings upon rings of inscribed magic formulae encircled him.
"Release it now."
Noé hesitated at Yunan's demand, her hands trembling at the idea of even harming them, but amongst the pain and worry, Andromalius' soft voice kept her grounded.
"Trust them, Noé. They are part of the few capable enough to stop you."
So in that instant, after a sharp inhale, Noé released the Light magic she had gathered in her hand, releasing what she couldn't handle and sending the rest Yunan's way. Unhindered, the quartz exploded and threatened to grow anew. Aladdin and Titus both reacted by tightening their grasp on the spell they cast and ensnaring her along with her wings. Noé let out a cry as the quartz that had no room to grow outward began digging into her back instead.
Grimacing at her blatant pain, Aladdin turned towards Yunan. "Hurry, Mister Yunan!"
This wasn't something they could simply ask to be hurried along, however. If they wanted this to work, it needed to be perfect.
"Give me a minute," he clarified. Though to be frank, Yunan could not assure them exactly how long they'd have to keep her at bay like that while he conjured the spell.
It didn't take even a minute of them apprehending her, however, before Titus took notice of the cracks on their magic. "We can't hold her for much longer!"
"Just a bit..."
Aladdin gasped at the way the rings continued to snap at a rate much faster than they were creating them, fear beginning to scream at him that they wouldn't be able to hold her a second longer. "Mister Yunan!"
"Almost—"
Crack.
The magic rings around her broke simultaneously and before Aladdin or Titus could conjure another horde, the quartz exploded outward precariously sending Light daggers in all directions. All magi easily defended with their borg but Aladdin realized something the instant her wings were set free.
That thing knew. It understood what they were planning. And it was focusing its sights on stopping Yunan.
"Mister, watch out—!"
There wasn't any time.
Quartz wings launched out towards Yunan as Noé's cries filled the air around them. But before they could get far, something stopped them. Its counter, strength magic. Both Aladdin and Titus watch astounded at the great claws that captured Noé in their firm grasp, encapsulating her and her wings in their entirety. And though the space was big enough for her to attack back and counter some of that magic, it wasn't relenting.
It stood steadfast to keep her at bay much like Muu did as he hovered behind her in his djinn equip still and with his javelin thrust her way, creating that amassing of Strength magic to keep her enclosed. Both Aladdin and Titus called out to him but Muu paid them no mind, concentrating on keeping his djinn equip for as long as his body would last.
Which, judging by the blood that began to pool in his eyes, wouldn't be much longer.
"Yunan!" His call needed no response when, from over Noé and the amalgamate of Strength magic he cast, he could see the brilliant shine of Light magic.
"Ready." Focusing over her, Yunan addressed Muu, "Tighten your grip. I have to get closer."
Doing as he was told, Muu's magic quickly encroached on Noé. Her wings thrashed against her imprisonment but could do nothing against it as it clutched her entirely in makeshift claws that held onto her entire body. Noé struggled against the painful hold as the crystals bore through her back, only stopping at the brief sight of Yunan hovering before her with something bright in his hand.
"The pain will be brief, I promise."
That was the only warning he gave her before he pressed the orb of condensed light against her shoulder. Much like the pain that began it all, Noé felt this one to her core as Yunan cast the spell he'd been working on her shoulder at last.
Though she couldn't see it, she could feel the disgusting sensation of the miasma crawling its way away from the rest of her body as the light surrounded it and encapsulated it around her shoulder yet again. Unlike what she usually did, this magic that Yunan cast didn't disappear entirely once the initial burst was released. Instead what was left was a brilliant sleeve of golden swirls that drew themselves across her neck, shoulder, and arm, acting like a makeshift set of restraints against the miasma.
Yunan hadn't lied. The pain had been brief. Once it was over, no more was left. Not from the spell or the miasma. All that was left in her now was numbness and utter exhaustion. In the brief second it took Yunan's spell to work, Noé's djinn equip shattered along with the quartz of her wings, both creating a surreal array of colors as the sunlight refracted across the dust they left behind.
Unable to formulate a thought, Noé fell only to be caught in a warm embrace midair. The pair of hands that held her did so tenderly from behind and it was after a short moment that she sensed the warmth suddenly spread across her back. Those hands carefully kept her from falling and held her close as her consciousness began to fade.
A thousand apologies wanted to leave her lips. It was the only thing she could think of for what she had caused. Yet all that left them was a soft exhale before completely passing out.
—{ii}—
Items on the nearby desk toppled to the floor, some crashing while others scattered across the floor as Rakah reappeared out of his fractured state in a heap of bloody limbs. Labored breathing was all that resounded in the empty room he found himself in as he struggled to find his footing, but it was hard to in the utter darkness of the night. What little moonlight existed was blocked by the thick curtain hanging over the single window in the entire room.
Because of this, Rakah had no way to recognize where exactly he flashed to. There had been no time to think about the destination in the first place. The instant Noé lost control and that witch's mark attempted to take over, he saw the opportunity and took it. It didn't matter where to, Rakah just had to get out of that situation before anything else happened.
And now here, in this room flooded in darkness, all Rakah could do was drag himself back against the nearest wall to find some sort of respite. His heartbeat, though weak, still beat against his buzzing eardrums. It hurt to breathe, quite possibly from a few broken ribs or a punctured lung, or both. And his face burned like hell. All in all, he couldn't tell where one injury ended and the rest began.
All this from a damn puppeteered harpy. Leaning his head back against the wall and sensing the exhaustion and pain beginning to overwhelm him, Rakah fought against it the hardest he could. He didn't know where he was, or even when. Passing out in the open wasn't an option. But that sense of urgency was nothing against his beaten body. It wouldn't be moving anywhere or for anything anytime soon. Giving up at last, Rakah let his head fall against the wall one last time as he struggled to breathe.
This really can't get any worse.
Creak.
His amethyst eyes grew wide at the sound of a door opening not far ahead of him. Panic swallowed him whole at how vulnerable he was, but his body had already given up on him. Whoever stood beyond that door would have an easy picking with him, that was for sure. Unable to do much else except hope against everything, Rakah pressed himself against the wall and the shadows that decorated them as a stream of light spilled from the opening door.
A small, shrouded silhouette came into view.
Light footsteps stepped out of the light and half into darkness. The sweet scent of freesias suddenly filled the air.
"Ojii-san…? Is that you?"
Strangely, a sigh of relief escaped him as his mind found respite in this new presence. Like always he wished to jest with them but having already had a hard time breathing, a soft 'sorry, kid' escaped him along with a hefty sigh before his conscience fell through.
—{ii}—
Muu never thought the day would come that he would see Noé weakened to such a state. He had the chance to see her vulnerable and had offered a hand to aid her then, but now, as she struggled even in unconsciousness against pain that wrecked her mind and body, all Muu could do was watch over her.
Watch and pray.
"Is there really nothing you can do?"
They were there; Muu could smell them. Titus, Yunan, and Aladdin stood a few steps away from the entrance of the small room they had taken Noé to rest in as they sailed back to Reim after the Summit.
Titus stepped past the three and gently laid his hand over Noé's pained expression to brush away auburn strands soaked in a cold sweat from her forehead. Concerned etched on his own face, he turned back to Aladdin and Yunan.
"Wasn't there something similar to this in the past?" he asked the younger magi. "Something we could possibly guide ourselves from to help her."
"It does resemble what Miss Teosa suffered back in Alma Toran," Aladdin pursed his lips as he relayed this to them. "But if it is the same thing…"
A pause fell heavily on them at his lingering words. They all had seen what transpired in that world and to that woman as she lost her mind to the sickness that took over her until there had been no other choice but to dispose of her. A fate they were all deeply aware of could be Noé's after her loss of control.
"There has to be something else," Muu muttered under his breath. "We can't just…we can't just let that happen to her."
There was the sound of an inhale, of someone intending to speak, but before they could a knock came on the door. One of the soldiers informed Titus and Muu that all preparations to depart were ready and all they awaited was their order. Both Titus and Aladdin exited the room, the former promising to help them once everything settled down a little at Balbadd. Muu appreciated the sentiment and though he knew well enough that Aladdin would keep his promise for her sake, it would not be his first priority.
It was to him. Whatever this thing was threatening Noé's life he would not stand for.
"We'll find a way to cure her."
"How can you be sure?" Pessimism wasn't his thing, but to not have realistic expectations in such a situation would only set him up for greater disappointment and grief in the worst-case scenario.
"Because she's already been searching for a cure. Even came asking me for information." The old magi smiled down at Noé's sleeping figure, waving his staff over her bed and using some of his magic to ease some of her pain. "Since we know how stubborn she can be, especially when it comes to asking for help, this is a good sign, I think."
Yunan's voice was soft and quiet as he informed Muu of this. It didn't surprise him that he never heard of her going to Yunan for help. Then again, what he said was right. Noé went out of her way to do everything on her own, a most infuriating and endearing quality in equal measures. It gladdened Muu that she had begun to come to terms with the fact that sometimes doing things alone wasn't feasible. And what's more, there wasn't a need for her to face things alone. Hardheaded as she was, though, Muu supposed baby steps were a better start than nothing.
"If you find anything, please let me know, Yunan."
The magi nodded but before he left Muu to care for their unconscious friend, he gestured his staff one last time over her. This time though no magic was cast. Instead, all he did was gather more than enough magoi for one other who harbored a great deal of concern for her to manifest briefly.
Their silhouette was faint but by no means small. The androgynous silhouette of the person that sat on the other side of the bed did so with their back to them, but by the vast wings that clung to their arms and seemed to cover Noé so gently in her bed, Muu could garner a guess. Long platinum hair fell down their back tied down her back with the rest in a long plait, her long strands hiding most of their features. Muu barely caught a glimpse of sharp eyes that looked down upon Noé as a clawed hand so carefully and tenderly brushed away the dampened hair from her face.
It reminded him of a mother taking care of their sickly child.
"'Where there's a question, there's bound to be an answer. We need only search'." Both Muu and the silhouette glanced at Yunan as he spoke those words with a warm smile. "She believes this. And so long as she harbors hope, so must we."
Right.
The silhouette kept his gaze for a second longer before lowering their head in ascent and disappearing entirely. Even with them gone, Muu could still sense them there, vigilant. Yunan excused himself and left Muu alone with Noé. With what they all had imparted, she appeared to be in less pain than before, but it never seemed to be completely gone. The cold sweat was enough to let him know as much. They all had done so much to ease her pain as much as humanly possible and yet he…
Not wanting to think much of it, Muu brought one of the nearby chairs to her bedside and took a seat before taking her hand into his own. Strange, had it always been this small? It trembled in his hand, her olive skin somewhat pale, and the cold tips of her fingers frightened him enough to completely engulf them in his.
I'll keep you warm.
"We'll keep looking, Noé," he promised under his breath. "We'll find a way."
Her fingers felt less cold, but his fear didn't subside. It wouldn't until they found a way to rid her of that parasite. Until he was assured that Noé would be safe and able to live on as she wished to.
Please, hold on. For all of them. For me.
"Hold on."
|i.|
Noé distanced herself from the rest the very night before they were to depart to retrieve the blessings, searching for some solace to ponder.
All their endless planning for the journey to take place in the morrow had enthused them and left them tuckered out after a while and had left her to care for their sleeping figures. Taking care to cover them with blankets so they would rest somewhat comfortably, the young Vastagian took her time to stroll outside the library and dared to step out of the underground city into the gelid plains above.
A darkened sky and black, barren lands welcomed her on the surface. The air was thick and hard to breathe but even through that hardship, Noé wished to see it.
The sky she once yearned for so long was now gone. Not a trace of that brilliant blue or that simmering sunlight was left. A drawn-out sigh escaped her as she watched the dark skies above her with a heaviness growing in her chest.
She couldn't believe that such a hope would arise from a mere children's tale. And yet it did. From the small truth of a legend, they could help save the people that the magicians had fought so hard to liberate. Even Noé felt indifferent to their plight. If anything she was only doing this because it meant a future for the handful of people still important to her.
"Noé?"
Shuri's quiet voice barely reached her ears. The sound didn't reach beyond the surface, but with how close she still was to the entrance of the underground city, some of it still bounced off. Giving her a sidelong glance, Noé found the ifrit with a shawl over her shoulders, clearly having feigned being asleep before. What a little punk. It didn't matter though. She was someone Noé wasn't bothered by anymore.
"You should rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Yes," she conceded but refused to leave all the same. Shuri lowered her head pensively before glancing back at her after a long second. "May I ask you something?"
She scoffed. "Why are you asking for permission?"
"I feel my question is rather...impudent in some way," she admitted.
The thought of such a thing coming from Shuri had her chortling. "It's never stopped you before." When she wouldn't proceed without her explicit consent, Noé finally waved a dismissive hand her way. "Just ask. I won't mind it."
"Why did you lie?"
After a pause, Noé scoffed at her own incredulity. Of course Shuri knew. Both had gone into that tree together to rescue Teosa, after all. What's more, they had both heard the tale before.
The entirety of it.
"Lying is such an ugly word." Her feathers bristled as she combed her hand through her remaining wing as if attempting to quell their stirring that arose from her sudden question. "I just omitted a few facts."
"Among them a very important one," Shuri retorted. Without warning, she took one last step forward and clutched her sleeve, her grip growing tight. "You didn't tell them what Teosa told us...about what happened to the boy when he stripped the villain of its powers."
"Nothing happens." Her rather forceful response took Shuri aback and forced her to release the hold on her sleeve. "The tale ends there. Meistras herself only said that it was her logical speculation of what could have occurred if the blessings were to be taken from the world."
"But if it does then Ignis will—"
"She'll be alright." This time her reassurance was passive and quiet, almost like the one she was trying to convince wasn't Shuri but herself. Bringing her wing closer to shield herself from the imaginary chill she felt was all she could do to calm down at that point. "I'm making sure of that."
"What do you mean?"
Hesitation grasped her momentarily. But it left as soon as it came. Noé trusted Shuri. Despite how horribly their relationship began, she trusted the young ifrit who had risked so much to help her rescue the people she cared about most, becoming one of those same people in the process. With a weary smile, Noé decided to place her trust in that bond and on Shuri. Reaching outwards with her palm facing upward, she opened her closed hand and allowed the small magic circle inscribed in her hand to come into her view.
The one spell she had learned from Teosa in order to help ease her pain: tabadul al'aeba'.
An exchange of burden.
The glance Shuri got of it was enough for her to know what it was. Speechless, the ifrit could do nothing except stand there baffled for a solid second. Suddenly her hands returned to Noé's arm but instead of grasping her sleeve, they took a hold of her arm. Her small hands trembled vigorously as fear crept its way through her.
"Aren't you afraid…of what will happen to you by taking all of that onto yourself?"
"Not one bit."
It wasn't an exaggeration or a show of bravery either. Fear hadn't been something that housed itself in her heart since she was a fledgling. Right now, fear was the last thing they needed. Especially when she needed to save Ignis from what would more than likely be her fate if she didn't intervene.
Suddenly a weight rested on her back and made Noé lean somewhat forward because of it. Shuri hid her face against her back on the scar left behind by her severed wing. Something wet fell and seeped through her clothes and onto her skin. Noé didn't want to believe them to be tears. There wasn't a reason for her to be sad. This penance would fall on her shoulders and hers only. After a lifetime of suffering this surely wouldn't be any different.
"You shouldn't have to do this," Shuri choked out through sobs. "You shouldn't be made to suffer alone…"
"It's alright." Noé leaned back a little to be more of a support for her as she continued to weep. A calm smile lifted the corners of her lips. One that she couldn't imagine would've looked sane to anyone who knew her current circumstances. "I want Ignis and all of you to continue on in the new world. I think that would make me the happiest, knowing I did something worthwhile with an existence no one wished for."
Shuri didn't respond. All that filled the heavy air surrounding them was the soft cries of the ifrit and the warm tears on her back.
Then suddenly came the quiet voice of another.
"But you're not alone anymore."
Both Shuri and her turned towards the mouth of the cave to find Euphemia, guided by the light of a lantern and the sturdiness of the walls. A warm smile painted her lips as she tilted her head forward. From the shadows, Noé watched in awe as Arikos, Saffiro, Tanvi, and Morrigan stepped out alongside her. All of them with an air of understanding and melancholy about them as Arikos spoke next.
"You taught us many things, Miss Noé, but I think you didn't notice how much we learned by ourselves as well."
Saffiro's watery tentacles stiffened to ice as he let himself fall to the floor next to Tanvi. "We knew this sounded too easy to be true."
"Hiding something so important was mean, Miss Noé!" Tanvi called out with a pout and with her hands firm on her hips.
"We've been bearing so much together already that I didn't think it possible you'd be so narrow-minded as to keep us in the dark like this," Morrigan noted with a somber tone. After a long sigh, though, he simply scoffed. "Though I suppose knowing you, we should've expected it."
Approaching them with the faint light of her lantern as their guide, Euphemia knelt where Shuri and her sat. Both turned to face her as she did so until she carefully took one of their hands in each of hers.
"You said once that the recorders were a family. That we should all take care of one another during any sort of circumstance. And right now, Ignis stands to lose the most."
Her gentle hold on their hands tightened briefly as she glanced back at the rest of the recorders. With an assenting nod from each, Noé watched with tearful eyes as Euphemia's tender aquamarine gaze returned to her with the sweetest of smiles.
"We want her to live beyond this world. Not just her but also all our families and friends too. We want to be that beacon of light that sends them on their way to that happiness. So please, Miss Noé, allow us to lessen Ignis' burden with you. Let us do as we always have. Let us face all of our fortune and pain as one."
Tears finally fell at her words. Noé attempted to hide them but nothing could be done about the warmth that spread so graciously through her chest and nestled in her heart. Unable to do anything else, Noé bowed her head and brought the back of Euphemia's hand to her forehead as the tears continued to fall.
"I'm sorry. And...thank you. For all you've done—not just today but after all this time—thank you, mano šeima"
|ii.|
The light was too bright. It hurt her eyes. It flickered.
All of a sudden, nausea hit her and Noé lurched upright and emptied her stomach over the side of the bed.
…
Bed?
Emerald eyes adjusted as she glanced forward, focusing on the one blurry mess of colors that suddenly came into focus. At the sight of someone else—it was a hapless maid standing back having thrown back the chair she'd been sitting on alongside the bowl of water and towel she'd been using—panic rose in her as memories of what happened rushed back.
Of what she'd done, what she'd become, and the unconditional frenzy she'd gone on. And of how little control she had over it.
All at once, fear gripped her tightly, pressing down on her chest as she grasped at her left shoulder with her hand, nails digging into her skin and drawing blood. A buzzing resounded loud in her head and through it, she could hear Andromalius shouting back at her, concerned. But even despite the muffled voices, all that registered was the maid that foolishly tried approaching her.
The image of a bloodied Rakah and her own clawed hands drenched in blood flashed before her eyes. Cold sweat instantly dropped down her neck as she shouted at the top of her lungs back at the girl.
"Stay back!"
Light flickered as thin crystal spears spread across the room turning it into a tangled mess that thankfully kept the maid at bay.
Alabaster walls cracked around her, the noise rattling in her ears as the spears stretched further out and kept drawing the young girl further towards the door.
Out.
She needed to get her out of there and as far away from her as possible. This thing—this parasite—could take over her at any moment. What she had been doing wasn't enough anymore. She could hurt them, kill them.
The thought alone made her blood run cold.
Crack.
Noé's head snapped upward at the sound of her spears breaking and was met by a sight that sank her heart to her stomach.
Stepping into the room came Muu brandishing Barbatos' Metal Vessel and shattering the light spears that impeded his way. Flustered, Noé gestured her hands outward to manifest thicker spears to try and stop him. All for nothing. The Fanalis cub broke them with ease with only a few swings of his javelin, his approaching figure causing even further panic to set in. Heart threatening to jump out of her chest soon, Noé did what she did best and attempted to flash away. All that caused, however, was a brief flickering of the candles and torches around her as she only managed to flash as far as the furthest corner of the room.
Noé fell into a heap of herself onto the cold tiled floor, eyes wide in disbelief and at the sudden pain that struck her arm and back.
"You mustn't!"
Andromalius?
How…strange. Her voice sounded stifled. Noé carefully cupped her ears as she did her best to focus on Chief's plea over the odd buzzing overwhelming her hearing. Disgusting. It felt so damn disgusting. Almost like someone had filled her head to the brim with cotton making Chief nothing more than a quiet annoyance lingering in the background. It took a long moment of her focusing on her voice to have Noé making out her cries somewhat clearer.
She wasn't allowing her to flash. Again. The parasite would spread further, she said. Yunan's spell will shorten. Don't feed it anymore. Don't feed it? Oh…magoi. Of course. That…made sense.
Right?
"..."
Emerald eyes widened at the sound of a completely different voice. A much clearer one. A familiar one.
"N—."
But even in its clearness, she was having a hard time understanding what it was saying.
"No—."
Her hands clamped down harder on her ears, trying to block out the rest of the noise that kept her from understanding that voice. Her heart beated under the wall her hands created against her ears, and beyond that wall, she heard it again.
Clearer. Understandable.
"No need for resistance. Let go…and I shall do the rest."
"Noé."
Warm hands gently pried hers away from her head. Eyes, wide in utter confusion, stared upward at the towering figure that loomed over her. Despite how soft the light in the room was, Noé could make out Muu's gentle features as took a knee before her and held her gaze level with his.
Crimson. Such a deep, warm red.
Having him now before her had Noé breathing slower, taking her time with each inhale as her heartbeat slowed to a crawl. The panic settled. All of a sudden, all she could hear now was his calm breathing as she focused on it.
Muu didn't say anything aside from her name. But something about his eyes, that gaze that was kept so firmly on her, grounded her. The sight of broken spears impaling the room brought a newfound fear, however.
I could've hurt them.
The hands in his large grasp suddenly began shaking as her emerald eyes widened further, fear flooding them anew. Before she knew what was happening, a warmth enveloped her. A sharp inhale left her from the shock and stayed in her lungs for a long moment as she processed what was happening. His arms were wrapped around her and made her feel surprisingly small. Warm. Her head fit snugly on the crook of his neck too. When did he grow so large? So warm. The freshness of a meadow and dew clung to his hair and skin; the scent of it was refreshing compared to here. So, so…warm.
Like the sun.
Sinking deeper into that warmth, Noé felt the fear and panic clawing at her back loosen their grip. Slightly but enough for her to breathe again.
"Let go, little sparrow."
"I don't…want to…"
"I know." His whisper was quieter than the one that resonated in her head and yet it couldn't have been louder. "Nobody's going to get hurt. Much less you. I promise."
He couldn't promise her that—no one could—and yet Noé believed him. Huh…she must really be going crazy to believe such empty promises. But that was alright. For now, anyway, and only for this.
I don't want to let go… Not yet. So please…
Carefully, her hands reached out and wrapped around Muu, holding him taut against her. A lifeline. The sudden action surprised him somewhat but he made as much of an effort to remain as calm as possible as he spoke again.
"Noé?"
"Just a little bit longer…"
With ease, Muu settled them into a more comfortable position, noticing all the while how she refused to let go for even a second and stayed put at last with Noé cradled safely in his arms.
"Don't worry," he faintly whispered back, the heat of his breath so close to her ear soothing her. "I'll stay for as long as you need me."
|iii.|
Seraphina sat on the parapet across from the room once night fell, a tray full of some light food and plenty of water at hand sitting next to her as she patiently waited to be let in.
Gossip had been running amok since that morning from the maids after one almost got skewered the moment Noé regained consciousness. Seraphina almost wished she had. That, in the very least, would've been a much more enjoyable gossip to listen to than what nonsense they continued to spew now hours into the night.
One of them was the fact that Muu had remained in the chambers Noé was now occupying without once coming out. To say she found his constant presence around her irritating would be an understatement. Truly, her friend knew not when to renounce a hopeless endeavor. Then again, was it really hopeless? The thought of that being the truth—and she had to face it, it was becoming much more so as time ran by—made her sick.
Love was the bane of innocence and beauty. It rotted people from the inside and left them a ghastly remnant of what they used to be. Seraphina had seen it happen one too many times not to know it to be true. It had destroyed her mother's sanity like it had decimated Lady Scheherazade's. Love—filial, paternal, romantic—brought out the worst in people and left in its wake nothing but bitterness.
Love changes all it touches, but I can preserve that beauty and innocence before it wilts.
It was the sole reason for the existence of her collection. To retain the sanctity of a wonderful soul, it needed to be preserved before it became tainted. Or in the very least, if it was already much too late to save it, capture the moment of its change. Flawlessly kept frozen at the exact moment it transitioned from perfect to imperfect.
Many of her pieces were made before being tainted, only a handful had been caught during their transition, yet this one would be the first that, despite its filthiness, was beyond beautiful.
In its imperfection, it was perfect. And Seraphina couldn't wait to have it to herself.
"Sera?"
Seraphina's smile fell the instant Muu called out to her so out of the blue. Though not outwardly showing it, a nerve struck her at being caught so off-guard. Especially by him. Surely, he hadn't seen much. Even if he did, there was no ill-meaning he could interpret from it.
Muu may be strong as a Fanalis, but sharper than most, he certainly wasn't. Not where she was concerned, anyway.
Turning to her feigned concern, Seraphina sighed in relief at seeing him. "Finally, you come out. I was beginning to think you had both gotten hurt somehow."
"Hurt?" he repeated.
She nodded in response. "The maids talk. They've all been worried sick about their young master having entered so precariously into 'that savage woman's' chambers. I suppose her panic attack from before riled them up far too much."
"You might be right." Her childhood friend sighed and rubbed the back of his neck with a groan. "I wish they had listened and not entered."
"Not much you can do now about that," she said with an idle shrug. Silence remained between them for a second longer before Seraphina turned to him. "How is she?"
"I can't say well, but at least it hasn't gotten any worse. She kept startling awake if I so much as tried to move her, but I managed to get her to bed after some hours."
"From the awful way your hair is standing out, I assume you joined her for quite some time too."
Almost instantly that face of his turned a deep red as his hands rapidly went about patting down his red hair. Seraphina chuckled, finding his response amusing at first. Muu, much like Noé, was a rarity of a piece. So tainted by the world yet there still remained a part of him untouched by that wretched emotion.
"Not for much longer."
Ah… She abhorred that her master was right. That much was crystal clear simply by the way he kept stealing glances of the room he just left. Asking wasn't even a necessity for her to know for certain. All of a sudden, the joy she garnered from his sweet reaction was robbed away by that confirmation.
Oh, my dear Muu. You were quite amusing while you lasted.
Feigning a smile, Seraphina turned up to the Fanalis once more. "You should get some food and rest while you can."
"No, I can't." Muu immediately shook his head, his brow furrowed as if she had proposed to go hunt down tiny defenseless animals. "If she wakes up and finds me gone, she'll break down again. I can't leave her alone."
"She won't be," she countered. "I'll look after her while you're gone."
"Sera, you told me yourself that you heard what happened," he said. "Noé isn't the most stable right now. She could lash out at you without meaning to and hurt you. That's the last thing either of us wants."
"And I'm a high-ranking magician who can take care of herself, Muu. Now stop with the excuses. She'll need to come around to others before long. She can't just cling to you all the time. It will get her nowhere."
Muu opened his mouth, ready to protest, but thought better of it. Seraphina knew why as well. What she had said might have sounded ill-mannered, but she wasn't wrong. Or at least, she said it in a way that would seem so. And by that pensive expression, Muu believed her.
Now, for the real coup de grace.
"Besides, you and Master Titus must search for a way to cure her, and you can't possibly do that while remaining in that room with her." Giving him that sickly sweet smile that she perfected after years before a mirror, Seraphina splayed her hand on her chest to gesture to herself. "Let me take care of her while you both do that. The sooner we can heal her from whatever is wrong with her, the better for everybody."
The fact that he was giving it some serious thought let Seraphina know she had won this argument before he had a chance to protest any further.
"You're right." Standing away from her, Muu smiled down at Seraphina, "You always seem to be when things are gray rather than black and white."
"Aren't I always?"
A chuckle escaped him and his hand rose to rest atop her head. Seafoam green eyes widened a bit at the gesture as his large hand seemed to engulf it yet remained gentile all the same.
"Yes, you are, Sera. Which is one of the many reasons I care so much about you."
"As a friend, right?" Seraphina never hated that label. It put a distance that she quite enjoyed having between them. A friend was nice to have. While the amusement lasted, anyway.
"Of course," Muu said with a light chuckle. "And even more so as family."
Ba-dump.
Pain struck her between her shoulder blades then, bringing a grimace to her sweet expression but not painful enough to cause any further reaction. Well attuned to his surroundings, it wasn't hard for Muu to notice and ask, deeply concerned, about what the matter was. Seraphina brushed off his approach quickly, chalking it up to some leftover aches from her private training.
"Forget about me," she said, grabbing the tray with snacks and water while stepping back towards the door. "Go get some rest. I'll take care of Noé for the night."
Though still reluctant, he agreed in the end. Not without a caveat though. "Let us know when she wakes. I don't want to cause her further distress."
Seraphina nodded in agreement and shooed him away before quietly entering the darkened room. Once alone, she came closer to the bedside table and laid the tray down to light the single candle placed there. The tiny flame gave little light but was enough to help her eyes adjust to the image of Noé's sleeping figure.
It reminded her of a newborn chick with how curled up and entangled in the silk sheets she was, her shapeless wing laid behind her to freely rest. So peaceful, so innocent.
"They robbed you."
A sudden palpitation had her heart thrashing against her chest at the sound of her master's voice and at the cruel reminder.
"Were it not for their interference, you would already have your wish."
From the shadows cast by the small flame, thousands upon hundreds of tiny eyes opened, their cold cyan gazes directed at Noé then at her when addressed again.
"The mongrel knows not what he speaks of. What you yearn for, he cannot give you. None of them can. You have to take it for yourself."
That's…right. The pain that had subsided but never left finally did so, taking with it the heavy palpitations that rattled her chest.
Muu's talk of 'family' was nothing more than nonsense. Love corrupted the mind. It was what allowed her to be hidden amongst them all for so long. The blind eye they turned on her because of their affection towards her was more than enough of a shield. As a friend, as a subordinate, and as a citizen of this country. That same blind eye, though, was what kept her mother so blind to her needs, it's what kept her so-called father attentive to a nation of strangers rather than the prostitute he so carelessly impregnated, and what kept Muu and her fellow Regalia blind to her work.
"They speak of camaraderie, they speak of family, yet none of them understand what you truly want."
"You do," she whispers, her breath so close to the lit candle that the flame danced around her words. "You're the only one who ever has."
"Overtaking her will not take much now that she is this corrupted. Feed your mark the dark rukh it requires. Only then and before long will you have what you've yearned for…"
The edges of her lips rose at her master's reassurance. Her delicate hand rose to brush against her own shoulder as from the shadows created by her hair, one of the many rats jolted outward and onto her extended fingers. With ease, Seraphina brought it down onto the jug full of water and gently let the being swim in it, the mouse easily dissipating into a mist that mixed with the water before disappearing without a trace.
"Uncorrupted and for you alone to have: the ideal embodiment of 'unconditional love'."
A/N:
Hot damn. It's been a hot minutes since i last uploaded anything, huh? Last semester quicked my ass pre-tty hard but i bounced back and can get back to finding what little time i can for writing again. I mostly have the next chapter written but it'll be a while before i can get to it. Hopefully, though, this one keeps ya'll occupied for a bit in the meanwhile :3c
Anyway, we're getting closer and closer to the end. Next time, it'll be a pretty hefty one I think bc of how much ground I want to cover. I hope i won't take long. Fingers crossed.
All the same, love you guys, and I hope you all are having a great 2022 so far and that January has treated ya'll great :) I'll do a proper thank you next time because I'm pressed for time right now. Gotta study for an exam in two weeks xD Don't want a repeat from last semester, so that be the reason why. I'll put as much time as I can into writing though because I want to for sure end TM before 2022 ends (my hopeful estimate is around the end of summer hopefully). Once it's done, it would mean that I'm official halfway through the Gift Bearers series :D Super excited about the future but I'll leave that talk for another time :)
For now, I hope you all enjoyed and that you stay tuned for the next chapter :D
Lots of hugs and well wishes,
Evie.