Chapter 18a: Hostile Grounds
"Sinclair?! Sinclair, talk to me! What's going on?!" Meryl frantically communicated with her subordinate. There was no response. The dullahan cursed. Sinclair and the others had obviously walked straight into a trap, which meant the church was no longer safe. Meryl attempted to reach Cassiel, only to be met with silence.
"Shit, this is bad. They're going to kill them!"
Adrian cursed under his breath. "If we're lucky, they're going to try and interrogate them for information on why we're here. And if they know there's more of us, they'll want to know our location too."
"So, they could still be alive." Saralyn looked out the window in the general direction of where they had entered Zeraphine's spirit realm. It was miles away. On top of that, they would have no idea of where Sinclair and the others were taken.
The bags holding Zeraphine and Alain both shook violently, especially the one holding Zeraphine, alongside muffled shouts of protest. Saralyn groaned. If their job wasn't already hard enough, they had to somehow sneak these two out of the spirit realm.
"Meryl. What are we going to do with these two idiots? They're making too much noise."
"Yeah, we need to shut them up somehow. No way we make it across the entirety of the spirit realm and through Aerokon and manage to rescue the others." Adrian slapped the bag containing Zeraphine.
"Quiet!" Adrian's request was promptly ignored, Zeraphine only struggling more and more. Mercifully, Alain had gone mostly quiet.
Meryl decided that she would take one for the team. "Give me the bag with Zeraphine. I'll deal with her; you guys take Alain out of the city."
"But Cassiel said that we shouldn't separate mamono from their husbands."
Footsteps and muffled voices came from the street outside. Adrian snuck a peak outside. A group of witches were slowly heading towards the house. Adrian once again cursed under his breath.
"Fine. Just promise we'll reunite at some point, yeah? We don't need a pissed off Baphomet obliterating us because we kidnapped her husband. We've already got enough shit on our hands."
"Alright, deal. We'll split up and meet at the entrance. Try not to get spotted. Just because they know we're here there's no need to go guns blazing." Saralyn pouted as Meryl spoke, looking down at her shotgun.
"Fine, you can use it if you make sure it's silent. Now go!" Meryl vaulted through the broken window and out into the backyard, hauling Zeraphine with her. Some of the witches noticed the faint sounds of the Baphomet struggling against the bag and split off in the direction of where Meryl was heading.
"Are we sure she's going to be alright?" Saralyn asked.
"She's experienced. I'm sure she'll make it through alright." Adrian carefully looked outside. The witches had surrounded the house. He heard the front door open.
"Fuck… No way we make it out of this undetected. We're going to have to take all of them down." Saralyn began running up the stairs of Zeraphine's house, signaling Adrian to follow her. She reached a room with no windows, opening the door and ducking inside with Adrian. Drawing her shotgun, she began uttering a spell. Her shotgun began glowing a faint white. "I'm going to fire a couple of those smoke-bullets. When I give the signal, we take them down while they're disoriented. Sound good?" Adrian nodded.
Looking through the keyhole of the door, the group of witches were approaching the doorway. Saralyn stood in front of the door, waiting for a good moment to strike. When the witches were roughly within firing distance, Saralyn kicked down the door and immediately followed up with a volley of ghost smoke bullets at the witches. Taken by surprise, the witches began coughing and firing spells around randomly. Saralyn gave the signal to Adrian.
Adrian charged forward, slashing at any of the witches that dared leave the cloud of smoke. One of the witches managed to escape the cloud and aim her staff at Adrian, preparing a stun spell, but Saralyn quickly knocked the small monster on her ass with a bullet to the head. The smoke cleared, leaving a pile of snoring witches. Not stopping to admire their handiwork, the duo quickly exited the house and began sneaking towards the general direction of the spirit realm's exit. Observing the streets, Adrian realized that nobody was coming to check on the group that they had defeated. Miraculously, nobody had heard them.
The spirit realm's sun had begun rising, casting an orange glow over the city. The pair quickened their pace, neither of them wanted to try and sneak around in broad daylight. Ducking from dark spot to dark spot, the two crept closer and closer to the exit of the spirit realm. Most of the witches either were oblivious or didn't care enough about the threat of the interlopers in their own spirit realm, opting to spend their mornings with their husbands as they usually did. Either way, Adrian and Saralyn were grateful for the Sabbath's apathy.
They were a couple blocks away from the Sabbath lodge where they had entered the spirit realm through, but there was still no sign of Meryl. The two hoped that she hadn't been caught. Saralyn closed her eyes and attempted to contact their leader.
Where are you? We've reached the entrance, but we don't see you. I hoped that you would get here before us so we could move out together.
Zeraphine is heavier than she looks, so I can't move as fast. You go on without me. Try and communicate with Cassiel or the others. Maybe they're still imprisoned and can talk to you via telepathy. It is crucial that we rescue them!
Forget about Zeraphine, we need to cut our losses and get the hell out of this city! We bit off way more than we can chew with this mission. We'll come back later when we're more prepared!
No fucking way, we've finally got a chance to stop Aperia's violent tendencies! There's no backing down now! We can still get Zeraphine out of here!
Just drop her, it's not worth it!
Meryl didn't say anything else to Saralyn. Saralyn reopened her eyes, sighing. "Damn it… She's going to get herself killed!"
"She'll be okay, we made it across the entire city without being spotted. If we can do it, so can she. Besides, you saw how distracted the Sabbath was when they were with their husbands. She'll make it through just fine."
"For her sake and ours, I hope you're right." Saralyn shook her head.
The pair took the longest yet safest route to the lodge, making sure to stay out of sight of any of the monsters or their husbands that were outside. Thankfully, many of the witches had opted to stay inside and enjoy morning sex with their husbands, leaving the streets relatively empty at the time of day. However, both knew it wouldn't last.
The two finally reached the lodge, covered in dirt and grass from crawling around on the ground so much. Adrian and Saralyn both found a relatively dark corner for them to shake off their clothing and entered the building. The building was still empty, at least for the time being. Suddenly a voice echoed throughout the entire realm. Adrian and Saralyn both jumped in shock and panic.
"Attention, Citizens of Aperia. This is your Matriarch. We have reports of Lescatian infiltrators in the city. Be on the lookout for any suspicious looking dullahans, dhampirs, or incubi that look like they don't belong. Until they have been captured and detainded, the entire city will go into lockdown. Thank you." The disembodied voice spoke, the sound echoing off the walls.
Why does she sound so familiar?! What is going on in this place? Adrian shook his head in confusion.
Saralyn opened the portal-door leading out of the spirit realm and into Aerokon ajar, only to immediately shut it. She quickly looked up at Adrian.
"Monsters are coming! Hide!" Saralyn stepped into a nearby closet and frantically gestured for Adrian to do the same. "Come on! Hurry, they're almost here!"
Adrian dove into the closet, hauling the bag with Alain in it with him, Saralyn shutting the door. Staring through the keyhole, Saralyn saw a large group of ochimushas, kunoichis, mantises, ogres, and lizardmen wearing the Aperian uniform file into the lodge, alongside a lone, but insanely tall and well-built salamander holding a massive realm-silver halberd, whom Adrian assumed was their leader.
"Alright, team. We've got extremist scum that somehow wormed their way into Zeraphine's spirit realm. They managed to capture Zeraphine and her husband. Don't ask me how a team consisting of a dullahan, a dhampir and an incubus managed to take down a fucking baphomet, but they did, and we need to save her. Search everywhere, and keep the entrance locked down so that they can't get out!"
"What about the others, ma'am? Wasn't there an extremist kunoichi, dark elf and dragoon pair alongside them?"
"Raniel and her crew taken care of them. About to be executed, Ophelia changed their punishment to mind erasure and sent them to the mindflaying center for "interrogation". Those extremists are lucky our Matriarch is so benevolent and forgiving! Anyways, don't you guys have places to be?" The salamander pointed towards the door leading out into the spirit realm.
"Yes ma'am!" The team nodded to their leader. A large portion of the team alongside their leader exited the lodge and went into the spirit realm. Adrian's heart dropped when he realized that Meryl was still in there. Now that there were monsters that were serious about searching for her, she would have an even harder time escaping, even if she made it to the lodge. Adrian reached out to Meryl to warn her about the incoming Aperians.
Meryl! You're being hunted by Aperian soldiers! Get out of there as soon as you can and meet up with us at the mindflaying center, the others are being kept there! There's a chance we can still save them!
I know, I know! I'm fighting with them right now! Get the others out of the mindflaying center as soon as possible!
You're fighting with them?! There's almost twenty of them, there's no way you'll survive that! Disengage and try to get them off your tail!"
Alright, alright! I'll meet up with you as soon as I can!
Good luck… Stay safe, Meryl. We've only known each other for a few years now. Survive for us, alright?
I will. Trust me.
Adrian opened his eyes. He sent a mental prayer to Hel, Eros, Ares, any god he knew of for Meryl's survival. Although Aperia wasn't known to kill monsters, they weren't above using mindflayers to forcefully extract information or erasing the minds of their enemies to defang them.
Now that I think about it… The hallucinations when he first entered Aerokon along with the strange feeling of nostalgia, combined with Aperia's punishment for monsters, alongside his and Saralyn's amnesia. Adrian had a moment of realization. Aperia had to be the ones who had erased his and Saralyn's memory.
But why? And when? How did I end up in the middle of a forest in some backwater country? What did Saralyn do to deserve this? Adrian's mind raced with possible answers to his questions. He drew a blank on every single one.
"Hey. You still here? We need to get going." Saralyn's voice snapped him out of his contemplation. Adrian pushed the questions to the back of his mind. Right now, his priority was to rescue his allies and get them out of the city before they suffered the same fate he and Saralyn did. Adrian pushed the door open a crack, observing the lobby. There was a mantis and a ochimusha guarding the door leading out into the lodge, but there were definitely more where they couldn't see them.
"Mantis and ochimusha are guarding the lobby. Most likely several more where we can't see them. Saralyn, what's our next course of action?" Adrian whispered to his partner.
"We need to take both out, quietly. You deal with the ochimusha, I'll deal with the mantis. Once we get rid of them, we drag their bodies to the closet. Sound good?" Adrian nodded. "Alright. On three. One, two, three!"
Adrian held out the Ballista, aimed at the ochimusha and pressed the switch on the handle. The realm-silver blade shot out and embedded itself in the ochimusha's lower torso. The undead warrior fell over silently without a word. Saralyn aimed towards the mantis's head with her silenced revolver. The mantis managed to turn around, just in time to get a bullet to her head. The insect girl dropped to the ground, unconscious. The two quickly grabbed their respective targets and dragged them into the closet. Laying them against the wall, Saralyn closed the door, locking them inside. After they awoke, they would have no idea what had hit them or where their attackers had gone. Adrian retrieved the bag with Alain, taking it to the doorway.
Adrian looked through the window on the portal-doorway leading back into Aerokon. "Not many people on the streets but keep your head down and your hood on. We're already attracting enough attention hauling this idiot around." Adrian pushed the door open, stepping onto the streets with Saralyn. Looking down at the ground, he made his way to the nearest alleyway. He caught sight of the church where they had met Cassiel a few blocks away. It looked completely fine from the outside, but Adrian knew that going there was a trap. There would be Aperian soldiers inside the building, waiting for them to come back so that they could capture them.
"What now?"
"We need to find whatever mindflaying center Sinclair and the others are being taken, and fast. We're racing against time here. If they get mindflayed, Aperia gets sensitive information about Lescatie's plans for a takeover. And if that happens, our chances of stopping them are slim to none."
Adrian. A familiar, yet unfamiliar voice began speaking to him telepathically. Someone that oftentimes opted to stay silent, letting her actions speak for themselves instead of using words.
Ava! Is that you? Where are you being kept? Are the others alright?
Being prepped for mindflaying in forty-five minutes… I managed to escape my cell. They're hunting me. They got me in the leg…
Shit, that sounds bad. Can we meet up somewhere?
Let me see… Does the marketplace sound good? I'll be near the stand selling green apples.
No can do… We're still hauling Zeraphine's husband around. No way we can walk around in the streets with him on our backs. Can you come to the alleyway near Cassiel's church is?
Ava went silent for a second. Fine. One more thing. Is Meryl with you?
No… she isn't.
Is she okay?! Ava's voice suddenly went from a strained calm to a full-blown panic.
She told us to leave her behind. She's fighting off Aperian forces right now.
Can you check on her? See if she's alright? Ava's voice took on a tone that Adrian had never heard from her. Fear.
"Saralyn. Can you see how Meryl's doing? Ava managed to escape from her cell and contact us. She's worried, and that makes me worried, considering how little emotion she shows sometimes."
Saralyn nodded her head and closed her eyes, reaching out to Meryl. She was met with silence.
She screamed internally.
"What was that?"
Saralyn weighed her options as fast as she could. If she told the truth to Adrian, she risked getting both incredibly upset. But if she lied, she would only be delaying the inevitable. But there was a chance that Meryl was still alive, just too held up to contact her. Saralyn made her choice.
"Meryl was forced to retreat. She says she'll try her absolute hardest to get out of Zeraphine's realm. For some reason, she's still carrying Zeraphine with her. She's dedicated to the mission; I'll give her that." The fabricated answer felt thick on Saralyn's tongue. Fortunately, Adrian seemed to buy her lie, nodding his head.
"Ares help her."
"I didn't know you were religious."
"Well, this mission is making me consider taking up religion." Adrian was being fully serious with that answer. "Anyways, Ava's going to try and meet up with us. She knows where Sinclair and the others are being kept." Reaching out to Ava again, he updated her on the situation.
I hope she's alright… The kunoichi responded with a hint of despair in her voice.
She's experienced, she'll be okay. I'll see you soon. Adrian felt less like he was reassuring Ava of Meryl's safety and more like he was lying to himself.
"We're waiting here. Ava's going to try and meet up with us, and then the three of us will go try and rescue the others before they get mindflayed. We have forty-five minutes before they get 'interrogated'." Adrian felt guilty for making Ava travel on an injured leg, but he didn't exactly have a choice. No way he would be able to make it to the marketplace carrying a massive bag on his back.
About fifteen minutes later, Adrian looked up to see Ava walking, or rather limping, into the alleyway. The poor kunoichi looked stressed out of her mind.
"Glad to see you made it here in one piece, Ava."
"Adrian… I have a confession to make." The kunoichi stared at the ground, seemingly disturbed and nervous.
"Make it quick. The others are running out of time."
"I gave some information to the enemy… I'm sorry." Ava choked out.
Saralyn suddenly grabbed Ava and pushed her up against the wall. "You what?!"
"Saralyn, calm down!" Adrian put a hand on Saralyn's shoulder. The dhampir slowly let Ava down, still simmering with anger.
"What did you tell them?!"
"I-i-i-"
"Start talking!" Saralyn raised her voice to a shout, despite them trying to stay discreet.
"Calm down!" Adrian hissed to his wife, looking out onto the street. Thankfully, nobody had heard them. "Ava, what did you tell them?" He asked his ally as calmly as he could.
"I told them that we were here to capture Hazel and interrogate her about Aperia's magical defenses… That's all, I swear…"
"Ava… Do you understand what they'll do with that information?!" Saralyn's voice was a low growl. The kunoichi recoiled in fear, hearing the pure anger in her voice. "Aperia is going to double the security, and we'll have no fucking clue what to do about it, all because you couldn't keep your mouth shut-"
"That's enough, Saralyn!" Adrian hissed at her. "Right now, we need to rescue the others, fast. We don't have time for arguing." He turned to Ava. "Which way to the mindflaying center?"
Ava pointed down the street. "T-t-this way…"
They had twenty-seven minutes left.
Chapter 18b: Insubordination
7 years ago, Outskirts of Monoghon
Catalina Marshall woke up on the forest floor, stretching her arms and yawning. It was a beautiful day outside. The birds were chirping, and the weather was comfortably cool. Besides a small aching and burning feeling in her stomach, she felt amazing. Every single part of her. Including her new tails and paws.
"Wait… What?!" Now that I think about it… Why am I in the forest?!
She ran over to a nearby puddle and stared at her reflection. Dark gray fur covered her otherwise human arms. Her hands had been replaced with paws that were almost twice as large, covered in the same dark gray fur. In place of her nails, were silvery white claws. Catalina looked down at her feet, similarly, covered in fur. Taking a closer look at her reflection, she noticed her ears were no longer on the side of her head, instead being positioned on top of her head. On her torso, were what remained of her shirt.
"Oh! You're awake!" A voice from behind her spoke. Catalina stood up and turned around. A similar looking werewolf but with fur a shade lighter than hers and blonde hair was leaning against a tree, waving her paws with a huge grin on her face.
"Welcome to the pack! I didn't think you were going to come back after your husband ran away with you. I was almost certain you would've run away with him to a mamono realm. But since you're here now, maybe you could introduce him to us. He looked like such a cute guy…" The werewolf dreamily remarked.
It was all coming back to Catalina. She was taking a walk with Kovalt. Werewolves had come out of nowhere. Kovalt had managed to fend most of them off, but one of them had managed to scratch her. She knew she was doomed the moment it happened, but Kovalt absolutely insisted that she go to a priest. Unsurprisingly, the priest had decided that the only way to cure her was to put her out of her misery. She rubbed the burn mark on her stomach, and then looked back at the blonde werewolf. Now that she thought about it, the one who had scratched her looked a lot like the werewolf talking to her right now.
"My name's Helena, what's your name-"
"Why?"
Helena stopped mid-greeting. "Uhhhh… What do you mean?"
"Why did you do this to me?" Catalina glared intensely at her corrupter.
"Well… Us monsters just love helping poor ignorant humans with their relationships! And you… uh… looked like you to spice up your relationship with your husband…" Helena nervously laughed.
A vein on Catalina's forehead began bulging. This monster had turned her entire life upside down, all because she felt some misplaced need to "help her" with her relationship. She began slowly walking towards Helena.
"So. You turn me into a werewolf. Do you have idea what this means for me?!" Not waiting for an answer, Catalina continued her rant. "I can't see my husband anymore without him looking at me like I'm an abomination. I can't see my daughter anymore without her running away in fear. I can't even enter my fucking home city now, without the Order trying to kill me! And now I need to adjust my life to live like a wild animal in the forest, all because you thought I needed help with me and my husband's relationship. Let me tell you something. We were fine without your 'help'!" Catalina's burst of emotion was capped off by her bursting into tears.
Helena stood wide-eyed, completely still. "I… Well, I'd be willing to help y-"
"Fuck off! I don't want your help!" Catalina literally turned tail and began sprinting away. Much to her dismay, Helena began following her and she was faster than her.
"Wait! Come back, I can help you! Trust me, you'll need our help if you need ever want to see him again!"
"Go away!" Catalina sprinted even harder. Her own stamina surprised her. She was flying through the forest at speeds that she'd need a heroic blessing as a human to match.
That's one benefit to this situation, I guess.
Catalina finally exhausted all her energy. She collapsed against a large rock, sinking to the ground. She curled up into a ball and began sobbing again. Helena caught up to her, a genuinely concerned and remorseful expression on her face.
"Listen to me. I can help you reunite with your husband and your daughter. But you need to hear me out. I understand you're having a difficult time adjusting to your transformation, but werewolves are social creatures. I can teach you something that can make your husband love you again."
"Like what? What could you possibly do that could change his mind in this situation."
"Anthropomorphosis. It'll help you sneak by the Order's defenses and allow you to get closer to him. When you do finally reach him… Just do what your instincts tell you to, and everything will work out fine." Helena suggested, a small smile forming on her face when she said the word "fine".
Catalina was skeptical. But simply thinking about Kovalt and picturing him in her mind was already making her womb ache violently. Lustful thoughts began filling her head. She needed him badly. Against better judgement, Catalina decided to hear Helena out.
"Fine. How do I do this 'anthropomorphosis' thing?" She reluctantly asked Helena.
"Glad to see you're finally listening. Since you were originally human, this should be easier for you than usual." Helena let out a sigh of relief. "Ok. So first, you'll have to imagine yourself as a human…"
Catalina limped back to the clearing in the forest where she had met Helena, a new wound on her furry leg accompanying the burn mark on her stomach. She mentally cursed her "mentor" for nearly getting her killed, but she also cursed her lust-ridden past self for not considering how Kovalt would react to seeing her again. The freshly turned werewolf spotted Helena laying on a rock. The older werewolf swiveled around to greet her, only to see her without a husband and sporting a new wound. Her cheery smile was replaced with an expression of disappointment and concern.
"Oh no! Did things not go well with your husband? Do you need to help you with that wound?"
"No. I'm done taking your so-called 'help'. You almost got me killed." Catalina snapped.
"Did your disguise fail in front of the Order? That shouldn't have happened…?" Helena responded, confused.
"I'll tell you what happened. My daughter was terrified at me just walking into their house after I was supposedly corrupted. She screamed for her father."
"So why didn't you just pin him down and have your way with him? Why do you deny your instincts?"
"My husband is a hero. I forgot to mention that to you. You know what he said to me? He called me an imposter. A faker. He told me that the real Catalina was dead, and that I was just using her body." Catalina began tearing up. "What have you done to me? Am I even myself anymore?! Or just something pretending to be Catalina?"
Her flurry of questions questioning her existence and who she really was momentarily stunned Helena. She quickly composed herself. "No! You are still Catalina, the monsterization may have physically changed you, but your personality and soul remain the same-"
"That's it. I'm leaving." Catalina began limping away. This time, Helena didn't try to follow her.
Outskirts of Aerokon
Kovalt scanned the night skies for any signs of pink. Apparently, Eros had not taken kindly to him neglecting his wife. The cupid he had defeated and disarmed yesterday was proof of that. The gray-incubus hero shook his head. Monoghon had allowed worship of the love goddess, but he never took part in it, believing that they shouldn't even be allowing them in an Order-aligned city because of their tolerance towards monsters, but alas, Monoghon's upper management had ignored him.
His reminiscing was interrupted by the feeling that something was… missing. After a few seconds, Kovalt realized that the marker he had placed on Adrian Walker was gone. He let out a shout of frustration, his vocalization being carried by the wind. Without the marker, he had no real idea of where Adrian and his crew of monsters were. And if he didn't know where they were, he couldn't redeem himself and get revenge for letting his country become a mamono realm.
The hero took a few deep breaths and tried to relax himself. He had first encountered them on the road to Aerokon's main city, so they were most likely going there because Lescatie didn't like what the Aperians were doing. Frankly, he shared his disdain for Aperia with Lescatie.
The Order-unfriendly nation had seemingly popped into existence shortly after Lescatie's takeover thirty years ago and had grown terrifyingly fast. They were hostile towards any members of the Order that had stepped foot on Aperian soil, but they had seemingly minded their own business until two years ago, when Ophelia had officially declared war on the Order.
Kovalt decided that he wasn't going to let the missing marker deter him. He was going to find that traitorous hero and his friends and kill every single one of them. He began walking towards Aerokon, which transitioned to a jog, which turned into a full-on sprint towards Aerokon. He skidded to a stop just outside of the gate, when he realized he didn't have any identification. Aperia and its territories were absolutely obsessed with security, so chances are he would need at least a proof of identity to get inside. Unfortunately for Aerokon, he was already working on a backup plan.
He approached the gatekeeper, waving his hand. The bored gatekeeper looked like he was half asleep.
Perfect.
"Excuse me, I'm a wandering journalist and I'm looking to settle down inside of Aerokon and becoming a permanent resident, but I lost my documents on the way here. Could you lead me to the nearest immigration office, please?" Kovalt lied.
The gatekeeper looked up at him with half-closed eyes and a "It's too late at night for this" look on his face. He grumbled and got up from his chair, yelling at someone to monitor the gate in his absence.
"Let's make this quick. Follow me."
Kovalt looked back. A swarm of guards and angels began heading towards the gate, telling the other gatekeeper to close the gate. The angels flew up to the walls, the guards following behind them. Looks like the city is going into lockdown. Have they discovered Adrian and his friends?
As Kovalt was being escorted through the streets by the gatekeeper, he noticed the amount of anti-order propaganda posters and flyers. The one that stuck out to Kovalt the most was a poster of an obese man sitting in a pile of gold, while metaphorically and literally looking down at a group of peasants. Kovalt shook his head in disgust.
Thankfully, there weren't many people outside at this time. He'd need to be alone with the gatekeeper. The two of them finally reached the immigration office. The gatekeeper opened the door, leading to an empty foyer. The perfect place for what he was about to do.
"So, uh, I'm going to need your na-" Kovalt whipped out his knife and stabbed the man once in the throat. The gatekeeper fell over onto the ground, spasming for a few seconds then lying still. Without saying a word, Kovalt dragged his body under a table and draped the tablecloth over the table, hiding the corpse. Hopefully, nobody would discover it until it started stinking up the building.
Did he feel remorse? Not really. In fact, the Order had lost one of its high-ranking priests to an Aperian assassin using the exact same method. He had been pretending to be a troubled churchgoer looking to confess his sins. It had been a great loss to the Order, but a learning experience for Kovalt.
Now that he was alone, he could begin his search for Adrian and his friends.
Raniel, for the first time in a long while, was angry at Ophelia. The two of them, for the most part had seen eye to eye, but something they had always disagreed on was how to deal with mamono extremist prisoners. Raniel always insisted on mindflaying them to see why they were there, and then quietly disposing of them so that Aperia's mamono populace wouldn't lose their minds. Ophelia, however, most of the time insisted on mind-wiping them and dropping them off far away from any extremist or Aperian territory. It confused Raniel to no end. Wiping their mind would only make the extremists more suspicious.
And now, Ophelia, for the first time, wasn't trusting Raniel to do something. After taking her prisoners away, she had been told to "Take a walk and clear her head of all the aggressive thoughts". She had sent another group of valkyries to deal with the invaders.
The valkyrie's mind flitted back to the prisoners. She had taken the opportunity to interrogate Cassiel, but Nuriel and Ophaniel oversaw the interrogation of the other prisoners, a wyvern, her rider, a kunoichi, and a dark elf. Alongside those, there were still three extremists on the loose, a dhampir and her husband and a dullahan.
The combination of monsters seemed familiar to her. Then, she realized. The wyvern was described to her by Nuriel as having dark red scales, and the rider wielding a spear. That, combined with the dhampir and her husband made everything clear. They were the same monsters from Monoghon that had interfered with her mission.
A new frustration towards Ophelia bubbled up inside Raniel. The fact that she was preventing her from getting her redemption was upsetting. She knew how they fought and could provide valuable knowledge to the team hunting them down, but no, she had to stay and clear her head of all the aggressive thoughts. Raniel clenched her fists.
The valkyrie decided to check on the prisoners. This isn't going against orders, right? Raniel changed course and began jogging towards the mindflaying center. If Ophelia wasn't there, she would be okay. Picking up speed, her jog turned into a sprint, using her wings to boost her speed. She flew down the streets towards her destination.
She arrived at the mindflaying center. It was a gray, tall, and most importantly inconspicuous building with very few windows and doors leading into it. Raniel reached into her pocket and pulled out a key ring. She found a key with a purple M on it, put it into the lock and twisted it. The doors opened with a click, and she quickly walked inside, promptly locking the doors behind her. She didn't want anyone wandering in without permission.
There were very few people in the lobby. A group of dark priests and a dark angel were chained together, accompanied by the ochimusha and the succubus that had joined her on the raid on Cassiel's church. The succubus was giggling to herself in excitement, trying and failing to keep herself quiet. The ochimusha cast a few annoyed glances her way, but otherwise didn't object.
Raniel moved past them down the hallway and began searching for the room with the extremists. The maze-like layout of the mindflaying center was a huge hinderance for her; She had been told it was supposed to confuse anyone that escaped somehow, but it was still annoying. She eventually reached the room where the extremists were being kept. Raniel peered through the small slit in the doorway to see if Ophelia was there. The valkyrie spotted Cassiel along with the extremists, each strapped to a table, and tranquilized. A look at the wyvern and her rider confirmed her suspicions; They were the same extremists from Monoghon.
"What do you mean the assigned mindflayer isn't here?! This is an emergency; these extremists could have vital information!" An angel yelled out to someone in the corner.
"She's having a date with her husband, ma'am…" An alp in the corner, presumably her assistant whined.
The angel growled in frustration. "For fuck's sake, these mindflayers are so unreliable! Find another one, presumably one that isn't married. We need to get whatever information these bastards have out of their heads, especially since you let one of them escape!" Raniel let out a small gasp.
One of them escaped?! How?! Raniel scanned the tables, noticing one of them was empty. Now that she thought about it, Ophaniel did mention a kunoichi. From what she knew about the species, Kunoichis did usually receive training on how to break out of restraints in case they were captured while on a mission. But the restraints were supposed to drain a person's energy. There should have been no way she managed to get out.
"I just went to get some water and she managed to slip out somehow! It's your fault for not having any bodyguards!" The alp exclaimed. The angel shook her head in exasperation.
Raniel withdrew from the door and began looking for any possible route that the kunoichi could have taken if she had managed to escape. Her investigation led her to one of the very few windows leading outside; and it was broken. Raniel quickly dashed back to the lobby and around the building to the broken window. A small bush under the tree was slightly flattened, showing where the kunoichi had landed. Leading away from the bush, was an incredibly faint but still visible patch of flattened grass in the shape of a footprint.
Following the footprints for as long as she could, she eventually reached the main road. Much to Raniel's dismay, the footprints ended there. The valkyrie sighed and tried to best infer the way the kunoichi could have gone. She surveyed her surroundings, a small clothes shop, an alleyway, a bar, and a couple of random houses. Raniel decided that the clothes shop would be the best place to begin her search. The kunoichi could have gotten a disguise.
Raniel pushed open the door and calmly walked to the desk, where an old man sat reading a book. He looked up from his book and quickly tossed it away when he saw Raniel.
"What can I do for you, Miss Angel?" The man incorrectly identified her.
"Valkyrie." Raniel corrected. "Whatever… Did you see a kunoichi come this way?"
"I did. She seemed quite tired. I let her sleep in the back room for a little while."
"Sir. That kunoichi is an escapee from the mindflayer center, and a Lescatian extremist. I need you to tell me where he went. Now."
"I-I-I don't really know where she went after she woke up…" The old man whispered in fear, seeing Raniel get irritated.
"Fine." Raniel stomped out of the store, grumbling. "I'll just have to find them myself. Sorry for my insubordination, Ophelia. This is for the good of the country. I'm sure you'll understand."