Author's Note: Sorry…It's been a while. Thank you for all your support and patience :,)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Per usual, please feel free to give me your constructive criticism, feedback, suggestions, etc. as they are all welcome. Also, feel free to drop your support in the review section. Your kind words are always appreciated.
Spells and attacks will be bold. Thoughts, flashbacks, and emphasized phrases will be italicized.
Wayfarers X790 arc - Chapter 19 - Lone Petal Over Still Waters
~Devil's Trumpet, Brugmansia~
"Ahhhhhhhh, my tongue! It buuuuuuuurns!" a bound and cuffed Nilahs wailed in agony as the peppers' capsaicin set fire through his tastebuds, "How on earth are you doing this!?"
"It's magic, boy," Ultear's eyes glinted at the teal-haired Scale Mage, "Now I can either stuff her with more peppers or you'll give us the answers we want..."
The Arc of Time mage held Meredy hostage in one arm while bearing a handful of red chili peppers in the other.
"Mmmm...mmmmm..MMMHHHH!" tears streamed down Meredy's eyes as she reluctantly continued to chew down on the chili peppers Ultear was forcing her to eat.
"Poor Meredy..." Shinji and Jellal pitied the hot-pinked haired mage.
At the moment, Ultear had her linked to Nilahs. Both mages sported the same neon pink bands to indicate a Sensory Link via Maguilty Sense was set up. As soon as Meredy created the link, Ultear went ham on stuffing her mouth with the spiciest peppers she could procure from the kitchen. Why couldn't they just stuff Nilahs with peppers? Well, it is difficult to force someone who is knocked out to chew on food they don't want compliantly.
"I give! I give, I give, I give!" Nilahs shook in his seat, with reddened lips from the overwhelming scorch, "What do I need to tell you to get you people off my back?!"
"Hmph...that was sooner than I expected," Ultear crossed her arms in slight disappointment, "I was hoping it would take you more time to crack..."
"Mmmmmmhhhhh!" Meredy cried while she was stuffed with peppers.
"Ultear...is freaking scary! Jellal and Shinji cringed at their ally's sadistic capacity for interrogation.
The dark-purple haired mage proceeded to lower her eyes at the teal-haired dude, "Where are you people keeping those children?"
"T-There's a warehouse in the deepest part of the Datura Darkwoods north of town..." Nilahs shook, "P-please now that I've told you the truth, can I please be released?"
"No." Ultear instantly rejected the cowardly crook's request.
"But whyyyyy?" it was Nilahs's turn to start crying.
"Reflect on it yourself. Start by thinking about all those poor children you and your guild sold for money, "Ultear turned to Meredy, "Sorry, Meredy, you can turn off the Sensory Link."
Meredy waved her an arm after one bug gulp, "S-Severe Sensory Link..."
The neon pink bands embedded in Meredy's and Nilahs's wrists disappeared.
Meredy glared at Ultear with her aqua green eyes, "Ul...don't ever do that again..."
Ultear hugged her adopted daughter and presented her a glass of flan, "Haha...I can't you any promises since I'm quite the sinner. But I saw that this establishment had one of these in their ice lacrima refrigeration devices. I hope you like it."
Still distrustful, Meredy swiped the flan pudding cup and took a few bites. Instantly, her face lit up with a smile.
"Better?" Ultear tilted her head.
"Better...but your still not off the hook." the younger female pouted.
Ultear turned to Jellal and Shinji, "Let's go. We got what we needed from him. All that's left is for us to find map of those woods and make a plan."
Shinji and Jellal nodded before with leaving the tavern with Ultear and Meredy.
Nilahs was still weeping while strapped to one of the tavern's chairs after Crime Sociere left.
"My mouth...it still burns..."
~Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia~
Mist concealed much of the finer details of the woods. Worse yet, made it conducive for unscrupulous characters to commit ambushes, murder, and other crimes. Establishing a warehouse in the midst of the mist-veiled arbors was a smart move on Amdusias's part.
Jellal, all by his lonesome, was clad in the light of his Meteor spell as he darted from tree to tree towards the intended destination. Purposefully, he played the part of the firefly to attract the attention of all the predators that lurked in the shroud. If anyone was strong enough to take on the dark guild's forces en masse, it would surely be Jellal himself.
While he zipped towards the deeper, more densely wooded part of the area, he mentally recapitulated the plan he discussed with Ultear and the others:
The four mages stood before the entrance of the Datura Darkwoods. A slight unsettling feeling washed over each of them. Jellal, Ultear, and Meredy were veterans with 6 years of experience. But this was Shinji's first rodeo. Jellal turned to his guildmates, holding a map with a red X-mark in the deepest part of the woods, "Simple tactic, I'll grab the majority of Amdusias's attention by flying around the woods with my Meteor. Naturally, I'll advance to the warehouse through a frontal assault while you guys infiltrate it from the back."
"So this means, we have to walk more to go around?" Meredy groaned at the prospect.
"And what if you get yourself seriously hurt? Or worse, trapped in one of their control spells?" Ultear chided Jellal's playing at decoy, "Then the rest of us are screwed."
"You'll be there. You could hold me off while Meredy or Shinji severs the enemy's control over me," the blue-haired man rebutted, "Furthermore, I know Dispelling Magic. I can fend for myself if need be."
"Tsk..." Ultear clicked her tongue before she started walking off along the periphery of the woodlands, "Meredy, Shinji, come hither. We need to mpve quickly if we don't want Jellal's efforts to go to waste."
Jellal grinned to Ultear.
"Good luck, Jellal," Meredy flashed a smiled before catching up to Ultear.
"Jellal-dono..." Shinji looked into the older man's dark green eyes with his sapphire eyes. Jellal could see the worry oozing from the young teen's eyes, "...stay safe."
Jellal smiled, "Believe in me. I will."
The Heavenly Body mage ruffled Shinji's spiky, raven locks before departing into the woods.
Exiting his thoughts, the blue-haired mage blipped into a small clearing in the deepest part of the woods.
In front of him was a dilapidated, ivory manor with jimsonweed vines strewn about the walls and rooftop. Snow-white, trumpet-shaped flowers swirled with dark purple streaks blossomed from these abundant vines. A sweet yet intoxicating aroma from the flowers wafted through the area.
Datura.
The true Devil's Trumpet was renowned for its psychedelic, alkaloid chemicals. One heavy whiff could cause hallucinations and LSD-trip like symptoms. Amdusias, being one of among many demons known for playing a trumpet, was a strangely poetic name choice to complement the signature flower that decorated their headquarters.
"Intruder alert!"
In front of the moonflower-adorned mansion, a group of dark guild wizards dressed in military green cloaks and black gas masks were assembled in anticipation of his arrival. These miscellaneous individuals were armed with various weaponry: swords, staves, crossbows, guns, etc.
"This is quite the reception," Jellal took a deep breath as he prepared to give his utmost as a decoy.
"Artillery squad! Prepare your weapons!" a masked man with a copper badge depicting the Amdusias guild mark pinned to his cloak brandished his sword at Jellal. Multiple masked units formed a row behind the man. Each member of the infantry held out their magic staves and bazookas.
"Fire!"
An array of magic spells was fired at Jellal. With the heavenly light of Meteor, the blue-haired mage zipped around various projectiles. Hovering above the crowd, Jellal held his right out towards the gray sky, "Jiu Leixing!"
Nine bladed structures made from light materialized above his person in the blink of an eye. Jellal directed his heavenly blades at the crowd below him. Just as quickly, the nine blades rained down upon the mob of Amdusias mages. The light-made blades burst into radiant hemispheres upon hitting the ground. Dark guild mages were sent sprawling and scattering amidst clouds of dust as they screamed in the wake of Jellal's destruction.
"Hmph. This can't be all, can it?"
Amidst the puddles of unconscious bodies, Jellal calmly made his advance towards the manor. He analytically gazed at the black door with a brass knocker shaped like a horned devil.
"Something is off about this..." Jellal noted, "It's like its enchanted with something..."
"You won't be able to get in by knocking normally..." an icy feminine voice echoed from behind him.
Jellal swiftly turned around and saw all the fallen bodies of the grunts he defeated earlier were standing upright. Glowing, crimson strings arched from the back of every squadron members' necks connecting and intermingling into a sanguine web that narrowed into the fingertips of a red-cloaked woman dressed in pitch-black. Just like her fodder crew, she had a gas mask on her person, now slung around her neck by the straps. A pair of crimson rhombus pupils amidst ashen irises peered bloodthirstily into Jellal's observant dark green eyes.
Jellal found himself unnerved by this woman. Her hair was scarlet...just like hers...
"Salutations, Mister Jellal Fernandes," the woman politely greeted the blue-haired man.
He knew full well that this woman's pleasantries hid something venomous beneath the surface.
"It is such an honor that the infamous Crime Sociere would deign to grace us with their presence."
"Interesting choice hiding amongst your men," Jellal glared back at the scarlet-haired woman's ashen irises, "If only you had stayed quiet, you could have sabotaged me easily. Now that the gig is up, how about you and your forces surrender the children before things get ugly."
In response, her lips curved into a sharp, toothy smile, "Tsk, tsk, Mr. Fernandes...That wouldn't be any fun now, wouldn't it?"
"Then you leave me no choice," Jellal immediately raised his right hand into the air, pointing his right index and middle finger to the sky, "Pleiades!"
Six rays of light spiraled upward into the sky before homing in on Arvesque. The scarlet-haired menace smiled as she swung the crimson net attached to her fingers, the strings acted in accordance with her hands' motions, lifting the bodies of her fallen comrades to use them as shields to intercept Jellal's attack in a cloud of smoke.
Jellal grimaced at Arvesque's below-par methods, "How obscene..."
"One must make good use of their pieces as best they can," she jested back. Releasing her Blood Magic strings over her guildmates, the neon-red strands of rapidly retracted back into her fingertips. Eyeing Jellal, Arvesque bounded towards her prey with her hands held out in front of her.
"Blutzorn!"
The crimson spider web tattoos on her arms scintillated. Blood cascaded from her tattoos and fingertips forming red, jelly-like blobs around her upper extremities. Rubrous liquid solidified into elongate claws with crystalline protrusions jutting along her lower arms to her shoulders. Arvesque raised her blood-red talons at Jellal.
Instinctively, the blue haired man ducked backwards at the first swipe. Following his initial evasive maneuver, he sidestepped just in time to avoid the second swipe.
"Meteor!"
Clad in the firmament's radiance again, Jellal used the speed enhancing spell to deliver a rapid kick straight to Arvesque's vitals.
Still, she proved quicker than expected. Arvesque crossed her crystalline blood talons over her chest and abdominal regions right before Jellal could land his foot on her. The Heavenly Body mage winced at a pain akin to jamming his foot against an iron door surged up the nerves of his right foot.
Despite successfully blocking the Crime Sociere Mage's powered kick, Arvesque was still being dragged back by the sheer force. Noticing Meteor wasn't cutting it, Jellal switched his method of offense. The blue-haired mage focused magic energy into his now raised left arm. Heavenly Body light morphed into a spear-like structure which he now firmly grasped in his left hand.
"Antares!"
Jellal lunged the holy spear downwards against Arvesque's talons. A blast of light ensured, shattering Arvesque's fortified blood-crystal claws into smithereens.
Caught in the line of fire, the scarlet-haired dark mage was sent sprawling a few yards back slamming back first into a tree, "Ooomph...!"
Not allowing herself to falter, Arvesque quickly dug her heels into the tree's rough bark while holding onto it with her right arm. The portion of the red cloak over her rights shoulder was completed torn off where a gash from the Jellal's heavenly spear pierced through the congealed blood. She licked her lips as she narrowed her pupils at Jellal, "You're much stronger than the rumors say..."
"And what about those rumors?" Jellal scoffed, half pondering if she was up to something to get him off guard.
"Something about killing a childhood friend," Arvesque mentioned this to Jellal as if she was venerating someone who was more malicious than her, "You know...even I wouldn't stoop so low."
The blue-haired man stopped in his tracks.
Memories of what transpired in Tower of Heaven back in X784 ran through Jellal's head. Wally. Sho. Milliana. Erza. Natsu. Simon. Guilt panged with each and every subsequent face that popped into his mind. The memories he recollected over the past 6 years brought with them a sense of self-admonishment he felt he could never overcome. What he did to Simon could never be undone nor forgiven...
Regaining himself, Jellal looked back at Arvesque with a silence that gave her the answer she needed.
"Oh...I see," Arvesque monotonously responded to Jellal's absence of verbiage, "Well, don't lose your edge so soon on me just because I hit the nail on your most atrocious sins. I did want to fight the renowned Jellal of Crime Sociere head on after all this time, with all due respect. But it seems you've become a softie after turning over a new leaf...Utterly risible. Once you stain your hands with blood, there is no going back."
"Once you stain your hands with blood, there is no going back..."
"Once you stain your hands with blood, there is no going back..."
"Once you stain your hands with blood, there is no going back..."
Arvesque's words echoed in way that made Jellal's heart sink deeper into his stomach. He briefly looked to his hands, hallucinating the unwashable crimson stains blotting his hands. He could never wash Simon's blood off his hands. Nor could he right the wrongs he subjected Erza, Milliana, Wally, and Sho to.
The scarlet-haired lady conjured blood from her fingertips and the web tattoos on her hands. Rubrous liquid congealed into hooked, serrated blades attached to her arms. Arvesque swung her sanguine mantis-like claw attachments at Jellal from afar, multiple razor-sharp crescents made of blood darted through the air towards him,"Blutschneider!"
"Once you stain your hands with blood, there is no going back..."
Just when the blood crescents nearly hit him, a burst of Dark Magic erupted from the blue-haired man. The sharpened arcs barely severed the screaming, umbral amalgamation writhing around Jellal before they squirmed back into their original shape.
"You're right!" He gazed at Arvesque with the eyes of a madman given in to his despair, "Years and years of taking down dark guild after dark guild cannot erase my sins. Not when I can no longer do anything right by the one, I hurt the most. She's gone...GONE!"
"Oh...he needs an immediate exorcism..."The scarlet-haired woman sweatdropped at the guilt-trodden man in front of her. A little nervous, she could not find a witty quip to really to deescalate the poor man's sorrows. As much as she wanted to fight-to-the-death with this renowned wizard, she still had a job to do.
Arvesque walked towards Jellal.
The shadows wailing around the Heavenly Body Mage cried louder as they lunged at the approaching Blood Mage. Arvesque fashioned sanguine liquid from her fingertips into red, neon strings.
"It's okay, Jellal-san. Everything is okay," her red rhombus pupil's glinted as her voice took a manipulative, consoling tone, "If my sources are correct, everyone associated with your biggest sin are gone. Therefore, you can wipe that slate clean again. A fresh-"
A dark shade bolted past her face, grazing her left cheek. Arvesque licked the miniscule stream of blood that trickled from the minor laceration to her face.
"...start."
Jellal fell to his knees, crestfallen. Tears welled up in his blank eyes as he looked up to Arvesque, "I can have...a fresh start?"
Arvesque stepped in front of him, unfazed by the cacophonous shadows surrounding them. She nodded her head with an affirmative sinister smile.
"Of course..."
Fine scarlet tendrils dug into his limbs and the back of his neck.
"Blood Puppetry"
~ Behind Amdusias Manor, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia~
Although the trek was strenuous, Ultear successfully led Meredy and Shinji around the periphery of the foggy woods into the deepest part of the woods. The back of the manor was just as decrepit as the front. White moonflowers with blotches of violet swirled into their petals infested the back of the property and the backyard. A rusted stone fountain of an angel with a trumpet was the only thing that stood out amidst the sea of flowers. Ironically, both of the stone angel's wings were chipped.
"Aaahh, I'm pooped from all that walking..." Meredy groaned.
"Shhhh..." Ultear put a finger over the hot-pink haired girl's lips, "This is a stealth mission. Let us maintain our quiet."
Shinji switched glances between the snow-white designs on his nagagi and the jimsonweed blooms in the yard. Looking at these flowers invoked memories from his time at the Yorugao Dojo back in the Waxing Gibbous District of the Moon Province...
"No...Now is not the time to reminisce," the thirteen-year-old shook his head. He looked back to Ultear and Meredy to follow their lead.
The three stumbled upon a pitch-black door with a brass knocker depicting a blindfolded angel with her mouth agape. The bar of the knocker was supposedly a brass sphere.
"This design is...unsightly," Ultear winced at what the brass knocker depicted. Nonetheless, she proceeded to examine the door's structure. Her pupils dilated as she came to an interesting conclusion, "Meredy could you have a look at this door for me? It seems to be enchanted by something, but I can't entirely sense what it is."
At her adoptive mother's prompting, the hot-pink haired girl stepped in front of the door and placed a flat palm against the charcoal varnishing. Just like Ultear, Meredy's eyes widened, "Ul...this door has a deceased soul guarding it..."
Alarmed by her revelation, Ultear and Shinji held their breath.
"So we're up against Seith Magic..." Ultear muttered, "How horrendous..."
Shinji held his silence as he quietly unsheathed his katana and readied to enchant his blade.
"That won't be necessary," Ultear held out her hand in front of him.
At his superior's words, Shinji re-sheathed his blade back into its scabbard.
"Meredy..." the Arc of Time Mage made another request, "Do you think you can establish a link with the soul in the door to access it memories?"
"Ul, making a link with the soul of the deceased is riskier than making a link with an unconscious person because they aren't physical bound to the world," Meredy pressed her hand onto the door, "But..."
"But...?" Ultear curiously tilted her head to the side.
"The door which the soul is bound to serves as an anchor, "Meredy explained, "So...in a way, it might be possible to retrieve sensory information from the past through a link..."
"I can sense your hesitation," Ultear sighed, "Does this break any taboos?"
"N-no, it doesn't," Meredy continued, mildly blushing, "It's just my body might become just as stiff and nonreactive as this door. No funny business, okay?"
"I swear," Ultear held her hand to her heart, "Shinji, be a dear and hold onto poor Meredy for me."
"Yes, Ultear-dono," Shinji bowed his head before standing behind Meredy.
Meredy nodded to Shinji and Ultear before stepping in front of the door. She touched the brass angel knocker latched onto the door with a solitary hand.
"Proxy Sensory Link!"
Just like what transpired back in the tavern at Brugmansia, a bright pink band with chibi skull insignias formed around Meredy's right wrist. Similarly, a matching band appeared on the brass knocker. Once the link was established, Meredy became as stiff as the door she was connected to. She would have nearly toppled over if not for Shinji timely reflexes.
"Very good, Shinji," Ultear nodded as she looked to the raven-haired swordsman, "If you can, keep her hand attached to the brass. This will ensure her connection to the spirit in the door is maintained."
"Right, Ultear-dono."
Heeding Ultear's words, Shinji moved the Maguilty Sense mage's hand onto the angelic brass knocker to secure the fragile connection.
Within The Sensory Link
Having formed Sensory Links with others, Meredy was no stranger to the boons and banes that came with the territory. Making connections with the ill, severely injured, or unconscious came with a price. Establishing a connection with the deceased was already in the realm of the taboo. Maintaining a sensory connection with the dead would put the living party in the link on a countdown before they, too, start to sleep with the fishes.
Fortunately, the physical anchor the door provided would slow down that counter. With all her other senses being diminished, Meredy could focus solely on retrieving memories.
"..." Meredy gulped as the departed's first-person point of view memories flooded into her.
But memories unfolding before her were a deluge of cacophonous screams within the back alleys of Brugmansia.
Children getting abducted off the streets, blindfolded, gagged, and bound with rough ropes. All them were stuffed in wooden crates and taken by carriage to the decrepit manor deep in the woods. They were never to see the light of the sun again unless it was the rays scattered by the forest's fog emitted through the smallest cracks in this accursed mansion.
The memories flicked to the scene of a damp catacombs somewhere underneath the mansion. All the acquired cargo were huddled fearful of what the dark mages overseeing them would do. Flashes of Seith Magic from a man in a multicolored clown costume and Mind Control magic from a scantily dressed girl with pink and black dreads. Sometimes the children that were subjected to the control magics were brought back.
But more often than not, they seldom returned to the room. This particular child was an oddity, they were brought to and from multiple times. Nonetheless, the memories would fuzz and fade out every time following that sinister green or pink light cascading their eyes.
Soon, sickness took over. Many of children exhibited insidiously progressing respiratory illnesses from being cramped in unideal living conditions and lacking nutrition. The stench of vomit, mold, dirt, and water made the storage room more suffocating than it already was. At long last, the receptacle of this memory grew woozier with each passing day before giving out.
"..." Meredy could not bring herself to speak. These atrocities the children were undeservingly subjected to silenced her. Lamenting the lives of those dissipated innocents would serve no purpose if she couldn't retrieve the key she needed.
"But what happens next?" the hot-pink haired girl pondered.
Within the memory, the child's soul was extracted from its physical body. In front of it was the portly man in the clown costume. A green light emanated from his fingers.
"Boohoo...Nobody likes a toy that breaks easily," the clown faked a pouty frown in front of the deceased, before he switched into a cheerful smile, "But have no fear! I will grant you a new form to make you good as new. Lady Arvesque gave me permission to do as such."
Giddily, the jester presented the detached soul a brass knocker that looked like a blind-folded angel, "Pretty isn't it? You are to only open the door after seven knocks..."
His cheery expression switched to a creepy smile as he towered over the child's soul in the memory.
"Ah...I found you...Little Miss Crime Sociere."
"Ahh! Cancel Proxy Sensory Link!" Meredy's eyes widened in shock at being discovered within the link. Between the countdown to dying or being this sick psycho clown's soul puppet, Meredy would gladly choose the former any day.
~ Behind Amdusias Manor, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia~
What were really seconds in reality spanned into what felt like hours. Ultear and Shinji carefully observed Meredy and the glowing, sensory band around her right wrist. Fourteen seconds as ticked by before Meredy snapped back into living world with an exasperated gasp. Immediately the bands dissipated and faded from her right wrist and the door as Meredy withdrew her grasp on the door's knocker.
"Meredy, what did you find?" Ultear asked out of curiosity.
"Seven knocks," Meredy answered, but her expression was grim, "We need to knock seven times to be admitted into the manor."
Shinji and Ultear could tell by Meredy's face that there was more going on.
"What else happened?" Ultear interrogated.
The hot-pink haired girl looked to the dark-purple haired woman, "That Seith Mage found out I made a connection with one the souls in his command. He already knows we're here..."
"So much for stealth," Ultear patted Meredy on the head, "You did your best. From here on, we just have to see who out-brawns the other."
Meredy mildly pouted at Ultear. Shinji held a hand on his katana's grip. Ultear gingerly placed her right hand on the angelic brass knocker before commencing with the instructions Meredy acquired.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
After the seventh knock, the sable door eerily slid back ajar.
"Ugh...creepy..." Meredy winced.
"It will get worse from here on..." Ultear sighed as she led the way inside, "But let's think of the children first".
"Trust me, I ended up doing plenty of that and saw things I wished I didn't," Meredy followed the Arc of Time Mage with Shinji in tow.
"I'm sorry neither could share the burden with you, Meredy-dono," Shinji cast his head down, ashamed of his uselessness.
"No need, we all have different things we are good at," Meredy replied, teary-eyed, as she gently patted the brass angel attached to the opened door, "We have to put an end to Amdusias's trafficking. No more children need to die like that. And those that did...need to have their souls set free."
The three of them stepped in, resolved to fight the peril ahead of them.
Unbeknownst to them, a solitary tear fell from the brass blindfolded angel...
Inside Amdusias Manor, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia
Dead, shriveled leaves were strewn through the dusty, marbled floor of the manor. A faint light diluted by the woodland fog dimly illuminated the ominous interior. Before the entering party, an ivory marbled staircase invited them to the guaranteed adversity awaiting them upstairs.
"Stay behind me at all times. We don't know how much this place may be rigged," Worried for the younger mages under her supervision, Ultear hurriedly lead them up the stairs. Intermittently, she swapped glances to her young pupils at her side.
Upon treading unto the second level, the three Crime Sociere Mages observed multiple doors that decked the walls. Ultear clicked her tongue, "The trafficked children could be behind any one of these."
"Huhuhu! You couldn't be more incorrect!" A mocking voice echoed from the other side of the hall.
Standing next to a deep crimson door with fanged, obsidian spider knocker, was a round, red-afroed man dressed in vibrant one-piece clown suit with different colored sleeves and clunky, purple shoes. Next to him stood a small, pink-haired girl with dull red eyes donned in a hooded auburn cloak that concealed her small frame.
"Eughhh...this was the creep who detected me through my sensory link, "Meredy stuck her tongue out at the creepy man in clown attire in disgust, "Thankfully, I broke the link before he could turn me into one of them...Even looking at him still gives me goosebumps."
"And a shame it was that you ran away so quickly! But know full well, that I, Pierrot, will catch you next time without fail," the clown man's clapped as if applauding his oppositions' plight. His clapping resounded loudly throughout the halls. His white-gloved hands slowly emitted a sinister viridescent light.
Every other door in the second floor, save the crimson one next to him, suddenly opened. From the ajar doors, various miscellaneous floating props flooded into the scene: hula hoops, giant bouncing balls, bowling pins, drums, unicycles, a long tightrope, a barrel with swords, and a cannon intended for launching performers, etc.
A hot-pink podium with white polka dots slid in front of Pierro. Not wasting a beat, clown jovially stepped onto it. Four spotlights ho over him and cast their radiance onto him. A winged microphone fluttered towards our token spectacle-maker amidst the background of a drumroll.
"Welcome...to my Soul Circus!" Pierrot grimly smiled as he eyed the Ultear, Meredy, and Shinji.
"No..." Meredy looked upon the floating circus props with eyes widened in fright, "Those are all..."
"Souls of the deceased children, I take it,"Ultear finished Meredy's thought.
"This leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, " Shinji grit his teeth as he readied his sword.
"Don't let the fact that those props are possessed by the dead hinder your performance, "Ultear firmly reminded her pupils, "Hesitate and you may as well end up like one of them."
"Let the fun begin!" Pierrot yelled into his possessed microphone as he pointed a gloved index finger at the Crime Sociere Mages, "Soul Circus Never-Ending Parade!"
Heeding their captor's words, the possessed props flooded around the three mages like a technicolored avalanche before enclosing them in its chaos before drowning them last.
"Ready yourselves. And don't forget what I said earlier. Hesitate and you may become just like them," Ultear sternly reminded her compatriots as she summoned a Communication's Lacrima that floated above her left hand.
"Parallel Worlds!"
Various replicas of the original orb suddenly spawned. But these replicas glitched as if they were afterimages that didn't belong in this time. Ultear waved her hand towards the encroaching horde of gizmos.
"Fast Forward!"
The jade lacrimal orb and its replicants zipped and zigzagged in various paths clearing the rubble with accelerated pace. It was as if the various trajectories the orb could have transversed converged into the present moment. Splinters of wood, plastic, and metal scattered as the round cleared the tsunami of trinkets and toys.
"Huhuhu! You're a strong one!" Pierrot praised the Time Mage, unbothered by her progress in clearing in his entourage. He then clapped his hands twice, "Soul Re:Assembly!"
Every fragment of broken material from the decimates hordes of circus props emitted an ominous green glow. They floated and gathered, soon reassembling into their original forms. Not even the cracks would show at the completion of their reversion.
"It's like when I use 'Restore' on broken objects," Ultear remarked, baffled by her opposition's fluency with his magic, "Perhaps I can use my Arc of Time to undo their reassembly."
The Arc of Time mage raised her left hand, conjuring multiple silver magic circles bearing an hourglass motif in the center. Swiping her left hand to her side, half of Pierrot's collective items disintegrated into dust.
"Uh-uh-uh!" Pierrot playfully wagged a finger at the dark purple-haired woman, "What you're doing is pointless. I can always reassemble the vessels again or find new ones Easy-peasy. The show wouldn't be all that fun if we keep undoing each other's reversals, no?"
Pierrot clapped his hands again as the dust from the once spiraled into shape as they gradually reformed into their unalerted states.
Ultear clicked her teeth in dismay, "What a pain...My Arc of Time is a not a good match against Seith Magic."
Shinji quietly exhaled as he entered a combative stance. His steel katana barely reflected a semblance of the diluted light that entered the manor cracks. While Pierrot's circus paraphernalia were still reassembling, he seized the moment to advance towards the enemy as fast as possible.
Meredy, following Shinji's lead, decided to join in, "Maguilty Sodom!"
Eight light blue blades made from magic circles flashed into existence. They encircled around her after being summoned. Meredy extended her arm towards Pierrot. Subsequently, the blades flew across the hall, past Shinji towards their intended target.
Noting his enemies' actions, the clown man only let out a slight chuckle, "A-1, do your Master's bidding."
Like a marionette tugged by invisible strings, the pink-haired girl in the auburn hood unnaturally jerked and swiveled until she positioned herself in front of the red afroed man. Outstretching her arms with opened palms, amethystine crystals formed and materialized into twin katana with fiver-petalled handguards.
Doll-like, A-1 cut through each of Meredy's sensory blades until they shattered into luminescent, blue magic fibers. Without haste, A-1 switched her attention to Shinji who was making a dash for Pierrot. Quickly, she slid in front of his and swung both of her blades at the raven-haired swordsman.
The blades clanged with a metallic chime that echoed through the halls. A-1's crystalline blades grated against Shinji's black steel katana causing small sparks to flicker with the friction.
"Nghhh...I'm sorry" Shinji had second thoughts about harming even a hair on this girl's head. She wasn't truly his enemy. Just a puppet at the whims of its spellcaster. Still, if left unattended, she could prove a real thorn on their side and interfere with Crime Sociere's objectives.
Cleansing himself of his doubts, Shinji ushered more strength into his swing, knocking the pink-haired girl back a few yards. Her auburn cloak ruffled as she flew back. Underneath her cloak, a simple white, knee-length dress fluttered briefly in air before she landed unscathed. Immediately after planting her feet onto the ivory marbling, she brandished her twin crystal blades at Shinji once more. Her soulless ruby eyes stared back into his cold sapphire oculi.
In the background, the remnants of the broken circus-related items reforged once again into their baseline visage.
"Huhuhu! Juggling Slaughter! Flaming Hoops! Make way! Make way!" Pierrot let out another creepy giggle before he clapped his hands. An array of juggling pins homed in on Shinji. Simultaneously a volley of now reassembled hula hoops were suddenly set ablaze in eerie green flames before joining the onslaught on the Sword Mage.
"Hmph..." Shinji focused upon Pierrot's barrage.
The raven-haired teen brandished blade at the sight of the pins rapidly approaching in flock formation. He phased through the projectiles in one fell swoop, slashing straight through them. The fight was far from over. Flaming hoops closed in on him from all corners. Shinji adjusted his grip on his sword handle causing the spine of his blade to align parallel to his right arm. Rotating his hips, counter-clockwise, Shinji spun his blade a full three-sixty degrees. His katana cut through the fiery hoops with ease.
"Not bad! Not bad!" Pierrot was impressed by the young swordsman's performance, "But physically cutting through my collectibles does not cut through their souls!"
He clapped his gloved hands again. The halves pins and shattered hoops reassembled again in the nick of time. Shinji soon found himself surrounded.
"Drat..." Shinji cursed under his breath.
"Maybe you should try jumping through the flaming hoops," Pierrot jestingly suggested, "That would make for an even grander spectacle."
"Try this for a spectacle you creep!" Meredy's hollered from behind, "Maguilty=Rays!"
Thorned javelins of yellow radiance hailed towards the pins and hoops surrounding Shinji.
Noticing Meredy's blades approaching his toys, Pierrot's expression briefly switched to that of uncharacteristic sternness. He glanced to the hooded child puppet next to him, "A-1, intercept them."
Lifelessly, the young girl nodded her head before readying her twin blades and dashing towards Meredy's sensory spears inbound towards the props.
"Not on my watch!" Shinji bolted in front of A-1 and swung his blade at her. Their blades clashed. Another metallic chime rung out through the halls of the second floor.
With nothing in way of Meredy's sensory spears, the xanthic, thorned javelins pierced through the hoops and pins surrounding Shinji and A-1.
On cue, Pierrot clapped his hands once more. His gloves hands flickered with eerie green light. Clap after clap, the shattered remnants of the hoops and juggling pins did not reassemble.
Ultear turned to Meredy with a small grin, "Good job, Meredy. It seems your magic is a good match-up against his Seith Magic."
"That's great and all," Meredy was elated, yet panged with remorse, "But how do I know if I'm not hurting those poor souls."
"Let's look at it from a different angle, " Ultear stated, "If you didn't hit them with your sensory attacks, the link between those souls and the caster controlling them would not have been severed. Then he would have recycled them over and over as he pleased."
"Thanks Ul," Meredy cast aside her doubts to focus on the main goal, "I'll give it my all to free the rest of them."
"Tch...Killjoys...the lot of you..." Pierrot's usually sinister whimsical smile turned into an unsatisfied frown as he glared back at Meredy, "You have no right at all to rain on my parade. It was supposed to be spectacular! But your magic will put my show ruins."
"The way you use your magic to involuntarily force the deceased to be your playthings is an afront to magic!" Meredy yelled back.
"Hmmm...if it brings me joy, then to hell with ethics!" Pierrot clapped his hands. On cue, three cannons rapidly pulled up in front of him, skidding to a stop on their wheels. The barrels began to gather magic energy in the form of a dark, viridescent glow similar to the green light that flashed from the jester's gloved palms. While they were charging, each cannon adjusted their barrels to point at each of their intended targets: Ultear, Meredy, and Shinji who was rather occupied with A-1.
"Chthonia Feur!"
Three dark green lasers streaked from the barrels of the circus cannons, bounding towards their intended targets.
"Everyone, evade!" Ultear warned the other two mages as she moved out the way of the laser inbound towards her person.
Meredy dropped to the cold marble floor as the green light zoomed over her head. As soon as their dangers passed, Ultear and Meredy turned to each other as before turning their attention to their third comrade, "Shinji!"
While his blade was still locked in stalemate with A-1's crystal sabers, Shinji could espy the sinister radiance approaching him and the puppet girl he was fighting. His eyes widened at his perilous predicament.
"Ah crap. If I don't act fast, we'll both get blasted!" Shinji mentally cursed, "That cur didn't even order her to move out of the way..."
Shinji looked into A-1's lifeless ruby eyes. But his sapphire eyes bore no frigid iciness. With closer inspection, a faint glisten of concern briefly sheened within those blue eyes. A-1's and Shinji's blades still grated against each other as their friction opposed each other. She was not going to relent regardless of the impending "friendly" fire. Although he didn't know her, Shinji still felt a tinge of worry for this girl's well-being. She wasn't his enemy in the first place, but another victim of Amdusias just like the souls of the countless deceased children dwelling in the collection of objects surrounding.
"I'm sorry...A-1."
Without hesitation, Shinji abruptly headbutted the cherry-blossom haired girl square in the forehead. Such a forceful bash to the skull was enough to knock her unconscious, at most temporarily. From behind A-1, Shinji could glimpse the laser coming in hot. In the following seconds, Shinji held her close to him before falling backwards onto the ivory marble floor before the laser could graze even a hair on either of their head. Watching the green beam zoom inches above their heads made Shinji's heart stop momentarily.
"Whew..." Ultear and Meredy both sighed in relief before glaring at Pierrot who was stamping his clunky purple shoes on the floor grumpily.
"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! You guys are no fun!" the clown man could not contain his frustration.
"Quickly! While he's still having a tantrum!" Ultear advised Meredy as she cast more argentous Arc of Time magic circles.
"Right!" Meredy conjured her magic power too, "Maguilty Sodom!"
A quartet of light blue neon swords soared through the dim hallway amidst a backdrop of flashes of silver and imploding circus items. With Meredy's attacks clearly in his line of sight, Pierrot immediately put an end to his shenanigans.
"Hmph...Don't get cocky yet Little Miss Crime Sociere! A true showman always remembers to give a secret show when the crowd roars for encore!" The red afroed man wagged another gloved finger at the hot-pink haired girl. He then procured five small, golden cubes with carmine ribbon wrappings from his sleeve and threw them towards the flying sensory blades, "Trick Boxes!"
A quick greenish flash outlined the four of the five flung parcels before they all grew larger and acquired a set of jagged fangs. The quadra of "trick box" piranhas homed in on each of the Maguilty blades, sinking their teeth into the magic swords, shattering them, then combusting into smithereens in the process.
"You think a few boxes with teeth are going to stop me?" Meredy glared at the clown man as she conjured more sensory blades.
"Maybe..." Pierrot answered, his previously annoyed countenance slowly changed. Twas indicated by the curling of his red lips.
"Check below you."
Meredy immediately looked down.
Nothing but white marbled floor with accumulated dust from neglect.
Meredy looked back up at the Seith Mage with a vein on her forehead, "Why you...-"
"Meredy! Behind you!" Ultear's voice echoed.
"Hu-Aghhh!" Meredy yelled in pain as something bit into her right shoulder from behind. The jagged teeth on the soul-possessed parcel clamped deeply into the Maguilty Sense mage's upper joint.
"Huhuhu!" Pierrot sneered at Meredy's pain.
"Meredy!" Shinji noticing his comrade was in trouble quickly pushed A-1 off of him and rushed to her side with his sword brandished.
"Na-ah-ah!" Pierrot wagged another gloved finger again. A possessed tightrope with multiple swings zoomed passed him towards the swordsman.
"Wuh? W-wooah!"
Before Shinji could slash the fanged "trick box" latched onto Meredy, the tightrope quickly entangled the raven-haired teen's limbs and slammed him into the alabaster manor wall with it. As soon as Shinji's back was against the wall, the Pierrot's possessed tightrope wrangled his sword-gripped hand such that the sharp edge of his katana was pressed towards his throat.
"C-crap...not again," Shinji cursed internally at the familiar predicament, "This is the second time this has happened today! I only arrived at this nation 6- no wait- 7 hours ago!"
Snapping from his self-lamenting, Shinji switched his gaze towards his hot-pink-haired guildmate, "Meredy, are you alright?"
"Don't...worry about me. I've been through worse when I was younger, " although the Maguilty Sense mage winced through her pain, she was still standing in one piece. Conjuring a blue sensory blade in her arms, the hot-pink haired female slashed the toothed parcel biting into her right shoulder. With the soul inside damaged, the present was shredded into paper tears with one slash.
"Well done! Well done! Making it this far mostly in one piece has proven just how strong you Little Miss Crime Sociere," Pierrot applauded his opposition with sarcastic claps that echoed across the hall, "But I'm afraid I'll have to cut your pay as a performer. You see, your magic really ruins my fun."
Meredy tensed at the clown's words. Suddenly, a hole in the floor leading to a dark abyss opened beneath her.
"Meredy!" Ultear and Shinji called out to her.
"Huh-AAHHHHH!" Without seconds to process what happened, the Maguilty Sense mage found herself falling.
The Arc of Time mage's adrenaline rushed as she dashed towards her adoptive daughter with every intention to try and catch her. If only she could use Arc of Time on herself to increase her own speed on the battlefield.
Desperately, she called out to her mother-figure as she commenced her plummet, "UUUUUL!"
"MEREDYYYY!" Ultear was less than a foot's worth within grasp of grabbing Meredy's outstretched right arm, "MEREDY-GGGAAAAHHH!"
A sinister green beam from one of Pierrot's cannons shot the dark purple-haired lady square on the right flank. Without Ultear using Arc of Time to age the possessed props into dysfunction, Pierrot was able to reassemble them at a faster rate. The Time Mage was launched mid-air for a few seconds before she fell and rolled back a few yards across the cold, dust-ridden floor. She sported a burn mark where she was hit.
"Ul...? UULLLLL!"
Having the front view seat of Ultear getting shot transiently silenced the Maguilty Sense mage out from her shock of falling. The hole in the floor quickly closed before her screams could reach the second floor.
"Ultear! Meredy!" Shinji tried to struggle to get out of his binds, but the possessed tightrope only pressed his katana closer to his left jugular vein. The raven-haired Swordsmith grit his teeth as he glared daggers at Pierrot with icy sapphire eyes, "Bastard...What did you do?!"
"Huhuhu! My Seith Magic, Human Possession, allows me to transfer any souls under my possession can be transferred into non-living objects, " Pierrot explained, "This of course is not limited to circus props, per se. I'm sure Little Miss Crime Sociere is familiar with how I reinforce my locks in the manor. So why would the floor be any exception?"
"Tch..." Shinji clicked his tongue pissed in defeat. He could curse all he wanted to, but it would not change the fact they all walked into a rigged domain without full knowledge of the traps and their mechanisms. Amdusias's elite were formidable dark mages. This was undisputable.
"A-1, get up," the portly, red-afroed man eyed A-1's fallen figure on the marble.
The young pink-haired girl arose in a mechanical, doll-like fashion; unusually bending her appendages with every motion as if strings were attached above her. Upon regaining her footing, the soul-less puppet conjured a crystal blade.
"Finish him."
Per her puppeteer's orders, A-1 began taking steps towards her assigned target. The pink-haired girl raised her amethystine blade at the bound Shinji's direction.
Shinji rolled his eyes as the grip of the tightropes restraining him to the wall tightened, "As if having one sharp object pointed at me was enough."
"Huhuhu! It's wonderful you can still maintain a sense of humor in your situation, "Pierrot chuckled, "I've sent Little Miss Crime Sociere to rot in the basement so I can snatch her soul later. For now, I'll you and the old hag to my collection immediately!"
The air in the hallway grew colder with each passing second. A-1 was now feet in front of him. She pulled her sword back in preparation to thrust it into his vital organs.
Despite death being seconds in front of him, Shinji dared not look away from the girl standing in front of him in the now freezing halls, "So...this is where it all ends, huh? Real anticlimactic. But in a way, I guess someone like me with blood on my hands deserves no less..."
Before A-1 could plunge her sword forward, thorned rose vines made of ice suddenly sprung from the floor and trapped her in a frozen cage.
"W-what?" Pierrot's jaw dropped as his line of sight fell upon someone standing past Shinji's and A-1's positions, "I thought you were down for the count."
"Hmph...it'll take more than that to take me out," Ultear sneered at the Seith Mage. Ice patched the burn that singed the right lower aspect of her jet-black body suit. She readied herself into a casting stance with both of her arms. A light blue magic circle appeared from where her arms coincided. Ultear glared at the round clown man as an ice-cold aura surrounding her being, "And who are you calling an old hag you pedo-creep!"
Ultear's magic aura when using Ice Make Magic was so immense that all the circus paraphernalia became encased in ice.
"Eeep! My toys!" Realizing his artillery was immobilized, Pierrot squealed as he put his hands up in surrender.
"Ice Make: Rosen Krone!"
Ultear brought her joined fists forward, conjuring a spiraling array of glacial roses and thorned vines that slithered and struck the helpless clown into the wall next to the crimson door behind him. When the blast subsided, Pierrot's limbs were wrapped and impaled to the wall by thorned ice rose vines. Ironically, his head was frozen in a block of ice.
With the Seith Mage incapacitated, the tightrope around Shinji fell limp onto the floor. Released from his binds, Shinji immediately sheathed his katana before glancing at A-1's frozen figure.
"Don't worry about her, " Ultear said as she walked up to Shinji from behind, "I made sure my thorns only froze her. I'll unfreeze her and we'll take her out of here."
As Ultear was now a righteous woman of her word, she tapped the frozen cage encasing A-1. A few cracks crept in from the top of the structure before it shattered completely. Shinji caught unconscious A-1 as she leaned in for her collapse.
"Not a scratch in sight. You're really precise, " Shinji checked A-1's body. He amazed by the magics under Ultear's arsenal and her greater prowess, "Since when could you use Ice Magic?"
"Ice Make Magic, " Ultear corrected the young man, "It's my cherished inheritance."
Shinji could see a mournful, regretful look in Ultear's eyes when describing her connection to the Ice Make Magic in her possession. He could tell there was a grand, harrowing story behind it. But he knew full well it was not his place to pry. Now was not the time to reminisce about the bygone days where the compounded misunderstandings and mistakes of the past lead her down a dark road. She was searching for those golden rays of light that illuminated the rightful road.
Ultear shook her head before walking towards the crimson door with the black spider, "Come now, we don't have to worry about knocking seven times anymore with the Human Possession mage taken down. But we need to find Meredy before we leave."
"As you wish, Ultear-dono," Shinji carried the unconscious A-1 piggyback style as he followed Ultear towards the crimson door.
~Amdusias Manor Catacombs, Datura Darkwoods, North of Brugmansia~
Drip, drop, drip, drop...
A moldy stench permeated the damp permeated the pitch-black space amidst the backdrop of water dripping from the ceiling.
Meredy opened her eyes to find herself trapped in a cell scantily lit by candles in the halls on the other side.
"Where...am I?"
"Ugh...about time you woke up."
On the other side of the bars stood a bespectacled, tan-skinned girl with pink and black dreads dressed in a pink halter and white bellbottoms. She held a silvery staff with sinew infiltrating a pink lacrima cut like a gem. Her dreads were tied back in a bandana bearing the Amdusias guild mark. The girl furrowed her eyebrows at Meredy.
"Hmph...for some reason, my Mind Hacking is not working on you. Even my most advanced spells..." Isaruth grinded her teeth together in a mix of frustration and fear, "Nghhhhh...If I don't get this working, Master Arvesque will surely..."
"Surely what?" Meredy questioned, feigning concern for her enemy, "Lop your head off your neck?"
"A-Ah, you got a lot of nerve you bitch," Isaruth's pupils became pure black as she gently clutched something seemingly wrapped around her neck.
"Hit the nail to hard?" Meredy tauntingly smirked before shifting her gaze to the side, "I can sense your boss used magic to get her grasp on you. I could help you from your predicament. But with the reception I have received thus far, I'm honestly not in the mood."
"Ngh..."Isaruth narrowed her eyes at Meredy, "What. Do. You. Want?"
Meredy's emerald eyes slid back to see Isaruth's desperate yet pride-demolished expression, "Hmph. Rather quick on the uptake. How does it feel to feel as a Mind Hacking user to be under someone else's control? Kinda ironic, no?"
"Stop stalling and cut to the chase, "Isaruth's impatience could not be any less obvious, "What. Do. You. Want?"
Meredy stood up to glare Isaruth's spiteful, obsidian orbs with her own enraged emerald eyes. The only things preventing the two girls from ripping each other to shreds were the physical and intangible bars between them.
"Take me to where you keep the children," the Crime Sociere Mage glared into the Amdusias guild's pawn with dead seriousness, "If you take me to them, I'll undo the magic bind your master put around your neck."
A dead silence filled in the murky catacombs. Save for periodic drips of water droplets from the pipes.
Drip, drop, drip, drip...
Next Chapter: Blood Etched Unto These Hands
...
I am looking forward to your opinions about this flashback arc in particular. Just to clarify, this provides necessary background for future arcs which I can't disclose as of yet. I do understand that most you who read are more into Romeo and Wendy which is completely valid. Anyways...
As usual, feel free to give me your constructive criticisms, feedback, suggestions, etc. but please don't be too harsh. If you do, Pierrot will siphon your soul to be a part of his Soul Circus collection!
Pierrot: *rubs hands in schemey-weemey* Huhuhu! A splendiferous idea! What better honor for the common homo sapien to be a member of the Soul Circus's Never-Ending Parade! Hip-hip Hooray!
Author: *Raises roof in yays :3* Hip-hip Hoorayyy!
Pierrot: Now dear audience, I give you a choice for your soul's new vessel. Exhibit A - The Trick Boxes! Their bite is far worse than their bark. Exhibit B- The Flaming Hoops! How on earth do these combust? Exhibit C...Huh? I've never seen these before?
Author: These are...mini-totems...*Scratches head in uncanny* Why do these look familiar though?"
Bickslow: Oi! My babies are not for you to take! Hands off!
Babies: *floating asf* Hands off! Hands off!
Author: Wait, what are you doing here?