This Child Complete Us:
Camila, Light the Fire in Your Heart!
Raine moaned as they slowly worked their way back to the living world. They slowly opened their eyes and looked to their right when they noticed a soft glow. They scowled when they saw Gwen looking down at them, a look of concern on her face.
Raine quickly remembered what happened, and they gasped. Eda had transformed and was now going after Camila. With a groan, the bard pushed their hands under them and tried to get up.
"Don't move," Gwen advised, "This healing spell is a minor one that beast-keepers use to treat beasts' injuries. I don't know how well it will work on a witch."
Raine didn't heed the elder's words and continued to their feet. Gwen frowned when she saw this and made a spell circle with her right hand. Energy ribbons came from the ground and wrapped around Raine's wrists, ankles, and abdomen.
The bard was gently forced to the ground, and Gwen sighed. She then brought her hands together and refocused on her healing spell.
"Please be as still as possible," the elder directed. "Like I said, this a minor healing spell, so you need to be completely still so I can focus on your worst area."
"But Camila…" Raine moaned, struggling to free themselves.
Gwen frowned as she thought about the child she had seen with her youngest. She wouldn't deny Eda's cursed form was dangerous, and the child was in clear danger. However, she wasn't an idiot; she didn't know this area well. She couldn't wander off in the sky and hopped to stumble on the two.
No, the best choice here was to heal Raine, a bard who knew this area better. She hoped they knew a sleeping spell to use on the beast.
"I know this must be hard," Gwen said sympathetically, "But you have to trust me on this."
Raine growled into the ground. Having to trust Gwen left a bitter taste in their mouth. Gwen was the reason Eda was currently in her cursed state and chasing Camila.
But they didn't really didn't have a choice in this matter.
"...How long?" Raine asked coldly.
Gwen sighed and focused on her task. "At best, five more minutes," she answered. "But if you have a staff, I suggest using it after we finish."
Raine growled again, not happy that they had to wait another few minutes before they could race off to rescue the two women who mattered most to them.
"Please, Titan," Raine whispered, "I have never asked for much. But place, keep those two safe."
(SC)
The four-man unit's leader was shocked and astounded at what they were witnessing; in all the information they had read about this breed of curse, they had never thought something like this could happen.
Most beast curses were well known to be highly territorial. Everything that wandered into their territory, regardless of the attachment to the curse's host, would be attacked. So, to see a beast curse come to someone's defense was shocking.
The leader wasn't the only one shocked by this; the other unit members were also startled by this sudden turn of events. Even Camila couldn't stop the shock from showing on her face as she stared up at the beast who had been chasing a few minutes ago.
The leader watched the Owl Beast tense and got low like it was getting ready to pounce. The cultists saw this and readied themselves by making spell circles. The leader didn't take his eyes off the beast when he felt something touching his mind.
[Sir, what should we do?] one of his men asked through an Oracle link.
The unit's leader didn't take his eyes off his opponent as he replied. [For now, we proceed as planned. Ensure you keep your Oracle link connected so we can maintain our strategizing.]
The Owl Beast suddenly shrieked and charged at the cultists. One of the unit's members unleashed the spell they had at the ready, and the cultists disappeared.
The Owl Beast didn't slow its charge and swiped at the spot the cultists were just standing in. The attack hit nothing by air, and the beast snarled as it looked around. Suddenly, an air bullet hit the beast from behind, and it spun around. Another air bullet hit it from its left, causing it to flinch.
The Beast recovered quickly and took a wild swing with its claws. Suddenly, magic ribbons wrapped around the beast's front limbs and pulled it to the ground. The beast tried to get free by using its wings, but more ribbons wrapped around the mid-joints of the wings, preventing it from flying.
The beast snapped its jaws and screech as it struggled to break free. The cultists appeared in a poof of blue smoke, each holding a ribbon that restrained the beast. The Owl Beast saw two cultists in front of it and tried to lunge at them. The unit's leader saw this and sent a burst of magic lightning at the beast.
The Owl beast shrieked as it was bombarded with magical lightning. It didn't take long for the rest of the unit to join in and send their magical lightning at the beast, causing its screams to get louder.
"EDA!" Camila screamed.
Screaming her caretaker's name turned out to be the wrong move; it made the unit remember she was there, and the leader got beside the man closest to him. Without a single word being exchanged, the leader had their magic taken over by their man and turned their attention to the human child.
Camila froze as she saw the cultist approach her with their hands out. The scared human child started to hyperventilate as she flashbacked to when they held her captive. She could remember as they probed and studied her after one of their numerous experiments.
"Has this subject shown better results than the others?" Camila remembered someone saying.
Though her version was blurry during that time, she could make out the cultist who spoke and knew this was one different. Camila's hyperventilating got worse as she remembered the cultist looked at her and reached out a hand.
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Camila screamed, covering her head.
The Owl Beast heard its host's chickling scream and forced itself through the pain. It saw the cultist reaching for the child, and it growled. It began to struggle to free itself again, surprising the cultists.
"Not ag-AGGHHH!" one of the cultists was saying when the beast lunged forward.
The cultists weren't prepared for such an action and were knocked off their feet. The magic ribbons were dispelled a second later, and the beast charged at the unit's leader.
The Leader rolled to the ground when they heard the beast charge, missing a claw swipe by just a hair. The leader got to their feet and watched the beast push its head against the human child. With a quick yelp of surprise, the child was thrown onto the beast's back.
The leader growled when the beast looked at them scornfully and took off into the woods. They quickly made two spell circles. The leader brought them together and created a pale green fireball. They threw it with all their might and nearly grinned when it connected with the beast's right back leg.
The leader watched stoically as the beast disappeared into the woods. After getting their bearings, the rest of the cultists gathered around their leader.
"Sir," one of the cultists asked, "Should we pursue immediately?"
"No," the leader replied instantly.
This confused some of the unit members, and they looked at their leader as such. The leader didn't miss the look they were getting and looked at each unit member.
"That wasn't just a simple fire spell I used," the leader clarified. "It's a timed tracking spell on it. And from the looks of things, the beast is finally reaching its limits."
The other cultists exchanged looks and then looked in the direction the beast fled. The unit's leader made a spell circle and created an arrow-like construct. The arrow was pointing in the direction the Owl Beat fled.
"We will wait five minutes and then begin to track the target with my spell," the leader informed their unit.
(SC)
Camila didn't know how much they had run; she was still caught up in her past trauma to think straight. She screamed when she was suddenly thrown from the Owl Beast's back. The human child hit the ground and rolled a few feet from the transformed witch.
She shook her head with a moan. The fall was enough to shock Camila back to her senses, and she looked around. There was in between some trees, thick enough to hide even the bulky Beast. The human next looked at her caregiver, and she gasped.
The beast had collapsed, panting on the ground with the occasional whine. Camila could see the burn marks around its coat, no doubt from everything it had endured. The worst was the green fire on its right back leg.
Camila got up and approached the beast, being cautious. Though not how, she knew that wild and injured beasts were dangerous. She looked at the beast, and when she saw that it wasn't moving to attack her, she got close to the leg.
The human kneeled next to the beast and took off her bandana. She knew it was reckless, but Camila planned to snuff the fire out with her headdressing. She took a calming breath, took her bandana in both hands, and slowly reached for the fire.
Camila's hands were mere inches from the fire when it suddenly went out. The human child blinked as she stared at the green, glowing burn mark. She frowned as she felt an itchy feeling around her chest.
The human absent-mindedly scratched her chest as she stared at the burn mark. She gasped when she saw the burn mark take shape. The shape was two circles, a smaller one stacked on top of a larger one with a curled triangle on the top of both circles. There was also a dot in the center of the large circle.
Camila knew what that shape meant and searched her glyph supply. She smiled when she found a blank paper, and checking to see the state of the owl beast, she lightly pressed the paper against the burn mark.
The human was in awe as the symbol in the burn mark was transferred to the paper. Camila brought the paper close to her face and gently tipped the glyph.
Like the other times Camila activated a glyph, a bolt of black lightning jumped from her fingertip. The paper disintegrated, and a black fire took its place. The fire flashed, and soon, the black brightened into the typical amber color belonging to fire.
Camila looked at the fire in awe, and her eyes flashed. The hand holding the fire began to shake, and the human's breathing became uneven. A memory began to play, fuzzy and disjointed, through the fire.
The human could see a vehicle burning in the fire. Camila was nearly hyperventilating as she could see figures around the car moving. She was about to throw the fire away when a different memory surfaced.
An 11-year-old Camila sat absent-mindedly on the couch in her family living room, staring at a wall. She barely reacted when someone approached her and gently patted her on the head.
"...Still thinking about the other day, Mija?" the gentle voice of her father asked.
The girl looked up at her father, the man's face half covered in shadows, and nodded before she went back to staring at the wall. Camila's father saw this and frowned. With a sigh, the man took a seat next to his daughter and gently pulled her close.
"What you witnessed the other day," Camila's father said gently, "...It was beyond your control. But no one got hurt."
"But the fire…Camila muttered.
"Hurt no one," Camila's father quickly interjected, "You're just remembering things differently. Others were able to get the driver out before the car blew."
The young girl looked at her father shamefully, and the man noticed. He sighed and held her a little tighter.
"Camila, you're a child," he said gently. "I doubt there's anything you could have done. And it's okay to be scared at something like seeing a car overtone. But, what do I always say in times like this, Mija?"
Camila looked up at her father and saw him smiling. She nodded as she remembered what father always said.
"...Bravey isn't about rushing in recklessly, but acting when you're afraid," Camila said as the memory faded and a tear rolled down her cheek. "Papa…"
She suddenly heard a noise and, without thinking, snuffed out the fire hovering over her hand. Soon, she heard a familiar voice.
"I don't understand," the voice of the cultist unit leader said. "My tracking spell suddenly went dark."
Camila dropped to the ground, and her body tensed as the group of four entered her line of sight. Thankfully, the tree trunk provided just enough cover that it was hard to see even the Owl Beast.
One of the cultists asked, "Do you think the spell was distorted by the Owl Beast changing back into the Owl Lady?"
Camila nearly gasped as she looked at the transformed witch. She saw the burn mark was no longer glowing green. Curious, she reached and gingerly touched the mark; it didn't even feel lukewarm.
"No," the leader answered quickly, "Even if the spell's location was changed due to transformation, it shouldn't stop working. The only way the spell would stop prematurely would be if its magic were completely drained."
Camila frowned as she thought about that. Was it because of the glyph she discovered? Did it somehow drain the magic from the spell?
She heard a noise and tensed as she watched one of the cultists come dangerously close to them. She held her breath as the cultist scanned the area, trying to do a thorough search. Camila reached for the porch on her side, hand shaking as she prepared for a fight.
Suddenly, and without warning, a finger bird flew past the human and nearly slammed into the cultist's face. The witch saw the bird at the last second and jumped to the left, the bird missing them by a hair. The cultist scoffed at this and went in the direction his fellow cultists were.
Camila slowly let out the breath she was holding but didn't take her eyes off of the cultists. They were still searching the area, and it didn't look like they wouldn't leave anytime soon. The human started to get anxious as she watched the group.
Though one of their members had already looked in their hiding place, there was no guarantee that the spot wouldn't be rechecked.
Camila looked back at the beast and gasped; while she wasn't looking, the Owl Beast had changed back to Eda, and the witch was unconscious. Camila frowned as she looked back at the cultists.
What could she do? She was just a scared little girl in an unfamiliar world facing down a cult that was after her, and her two care…wait, they were after her!
Camila didn't think; she got a few feet away from her caretaker and then showed herself to the cultists.
"Hey, feos!" she called to the group. "I here!"
Camila then took off running without a second thought. When she heard the cultist's Unit leader shout an order, she realized just how dumb her plan was. She would lead the cultists away from Eda but would no doubt get caught.
Still, she was determined; Eda and Raine had helped her so much in the short time they had known her, so now Camila planned to return the favor.
(SC)
The unit's leader was starting to lose patience; the human child had proven to be more resourceful than expected. She had kept close to the shadows, and the thick trees provided enough cover to distort the group's vision when they spotted her.
Another problem was also complicating matters. When they heard a scream, the leader looked to his right and saw one of their members dodging an ice shard thrown at them.
"This is getting tiresome," the leader heard another member spat frustratedly.
The leader silently agreed with their man. When the unit first witnessed the human doing magic a while ago, they had thought that she had been given a training wand or some other magical device. But something about this felt different; the spells were coming too fast at them. And from the number of ice shards being thrown, whatever tool the human had should have run out of power by now.
The leader heard another scream and looked to his left. One of their men dodged another ice shard. The leader scowled as they looked forward. They scanned the area, trying to find any trace of the target.
The leader's eyes snapped open when they saw a large ice shard coming at them. They quickly made a spell circle, and a wall of thick vines shot up in front of him. The shard hit against the wall and shattered into tiny pieces.
"ENOUGH!" the leader shouted, making a spell circle.
They thrust the circle up to the sky, and it exploded outwards, shooting across a large area. The trees glowed blue and soon began to disappear with a puff of blue smoke. The cultists watched as the trees disappeared one by one, keeping their eyes peeled for their target.
It didn't take them long to spied the human girl; Camila was ten to twelve feet directly in front of them. The child's eyes were wide, and her left thumb hovered over a piece of paper.
Camila's shock didn't last long, and she tipped the paper. The cultists' eyes widened when the girl threw the paper, which turned into an ice shard.
The leader's shock didn't last long, and they drew a circle. They pointed it at the shard, and intense heat blasted from the circle. The two elements meant in the middle, and the ice shard was quickly melted, the water it became evaporating instantly.
The leader brought down their arm and looked at the girl. She fumbled to get more paper from her porch and dropped them when she took them out.
Camila went to pick them up when vines shot out of the ground and wrapped around her body so tightly that she couldn't move.
The leader looked at the witch who cast the spell and nodded their approval. They then looked back at the target and began advancing on her.
"Take one more step towards that child, and you will be dancing until all of your limbs fall off," a familiar and angry voice said threateningly.
(G Corner)
I had planned for Camila to pull a "Luz" and beat the cultists herself, but I changed my mind when I realized such an act wouldn't fit her current state.