Chapter Text
Its hunger, as permanent as ever, noticed a slight bent in the continuum that called for it. Its senses focused on the shadows, as if hands, flowing through the realities. A sense of belonging, of want, struck the Old One. The Lord of Fear, the First of Ten, looked up to the space above, to the dark skies and beyond. The scarecrow toppled down, rusted metal, ragged cloth and corpses of crows becoming a small and forgotten mound. From it, a rusted blood-like energy flowed upwards, searching for the sky. All above Runeterra, another five globes jumped off and joined the hunt, always searching for a new way to recover the Keys. And, by Envy’s will, Fear had found how to grow powerful enough to breach the skies above.
…
“What’s going on?” The black-haired man looked around, the sight of a busy medieval city, in European style, greeted his eyes back. As his eyes moved to his left he jumped. “Wait…you are…”
The First of Ten’s senses submerged themselves in this new, plentiful world. As if a dam had been broken, its energy started to flow through the city, savouring nothing but its singular drive. The smell of fear, traces of it permanent in the holdings that mortals always dwelled on. Its metal mandible opened slightly, ripping from the rusted metal the dissonant scratch that screamed wrongness.
“Did I get transmigrated into another world with Fiddlesticks?!” Roared Subaru in happiness, causing the demon to finally turn towards it, the mortal's plastic bag dropping to the ground.
Its head tilted unnaturally with a crack, the empty eye sockets of its rags glaring in red fire. No fear to be tasted there. Its head snapped back towards the road, ignoring the strange pull it felt towards the man and searching from where a new fear was tantalisingly exhaled by a mortal calf. The fear of failure. Of never finding what you lost. And below…and below… Its sharp teeth snapped closed only to reopen again just a second later.
“Every…” Its voice could have been mistaken by an older woman had it not been corrupted by low and high pitched rumblings and scratching. “...thing’s OKAY… I will…come.”
“...It’s…way creepier seeing it in real life than just in...” Muttered Subaru. His speech paused as he saw the demon drop to his five, rusted metal claws and weird ‘legs’ digging into the ground. He took a step back.
“Yes…I'll deal with THIS quickly.” Below its rotten and torn rags, the desperate caws of crows that were too dark, their eyes too red, resounded from its birdcage-like chest. With no worry given to the questioning looks all around, the demon rushed forward with inhuman speed, its limbs generating small clouds of dust as it charged in a very certain direction. Towards one of the hints towards its keys. “Ple-ase…stay hidden…here.” Its voice, soon lost amidst roofs.
“Wait! Weren’t we isekaid together!? Why leave me here?!” Subaru, after a few seconds ran behind the demon, not wanting to lose the first friend he had met in this new adventure. He soon, of course, got lost.
…
The Sword Saint missed a step as Od Laguna bestowed upon him a new Divine Protection of Demon Hunting, allowing him to perfectly locate any demons in the world uncaring for distance or any tricks. As it stabilised into him, a small red point appeared in his vision. Worried, his hand went to his Dragon Sword. It clicked off the sheath. Frowning, he rushed forward.
…
“Excuse me, have you seen a…” Emilia, fairly desperate, tried to ask a passerby that retreated from her as if she was the plague. Shaking their head, they speed up. “...sorry.” Dejected, her steps slowed down.
“Lia, asking around is not useful. We need to try and trace her steps. Better yet, we try to find what a thief would want with one of the insignias. I bet they would just sell it for coins so that leaves us to pawnshops and loot-houses.” Puck, coming off his pendant, sat on her right shoulder.
Emilia nodded. “...do you know where to start? I am…”
“Just leave it to me, Lia.” Puck looked around while shielding his face from the sun with a hand. Also out of ideas, they would simply need to hurry up and explore this part of the city. Most likely the slums. With a confident look the Great Spirit pointed towards an alleyway. “Let’s start over there, yes?”
Emilia nodded and both of them jogged through progressively smaller and thinner roads, the buildings around snapping the daylight and darkening their surroundings. As she looked around, she heard a strangely nostalgic voice from behind.
“Emilia…Emilia, Emilia.”
Puck fell silent while Emilia shuddered, growing as cold as her signature ice. Twirling around in a panic, both mages casted their fire magic, stakes of ice aimed at a very innocent looking scarecrow. Made from metal that had not been treated well by time, it was heavily rusted. Its left hand, holding a dented and blunt scythe. Its first right arm, fully black, a tool that shred a bit of light, safekeeping a tiny flame inside. Its second right arm, glued to its side. Its chest, a birdcage with its arms and legs merged into it, and head were clothed in a white pale rag that was pierced by some metal stalks that grew from its back. Two metal ‘legs’, untidily put together, ended its figure. It itself, utterly unmoving bar its small lamp, softly waving back and forth as if it had moved.
Blinking, her scared subconscious searched for the danger that was sending chills down her back, that was sending goosebumps all around her body. After half a minute, she relaxed a bit and sighed, the adrenaline depleting from her body. “I…I got very scared…”
“Lia.” Puck, tense and ready for battle, recovered her battle readiness. “It was not here when we passed by.”
“Huh?” Emilia’s gaze flickered to Puck, who shot dozens of ice stakes towards the poor innocent scarecrow. All striking true, the poor innocent scarecrow was spontaneously disassembled and dropped all over the alleyway. “Why would you break it, Puck? That was not nice at all!”
“I…I thought wrong?” Puck blinked, staring at the broken construct and unable to detect any mana, causing his alertness to rapidly dissipate. Turning to Emilia, Puck slapped his head and stuck his tongue out. “Te-he.”
Emilia’s face, rapidly regaining its colour, frowned and, puffing out her cheeks, turned towards Puck. “Neither a te-he nor a sorry will cut it, Puck. We need to put it back together again! An…”
“Your Mother reeeeeeally loves you, Lia.”
Both of them slowly turned towards the eerily metallic voice of the scarecrow that was back in one piece and in the same position of before, as if nothing had happened to it. Its words, almost as clear and kind as Mother […….]. But that cleanliness lasted little as it started to crack. Its arms and legs, bent in impossible directions, moved in erratic motions and granted it the gift of walking one unrealistic step, the end of that leg stabbing into the stone below. Its broken cloak fluttered a bit, the birdcage below, now with a pair of tiny red eyes that grew into several, staring into Emilia’s.
Its voice cracked, not fully alien, erratic and dishonant. A voice of the past. Of past, last heard words. “I love you, Lia.”
Emilia did not hear her own screaming over the painful migraine in her head, forgotten memories tugging at its seams. She fell against the wall behind while Puck protectively flew in front of her.
The entity dashed forward, uncaring for the Great Spirit’s attacks before one of its claws snapped his small body from the air. A not so light squish and the spirit exploded in shards of mana, his form spent and now trapped uselessly on her pendant for a short while.
“Get away safely.”
Emilia curled into a ball and stilled her breathing. Her hands fell on her face, pressuring it with more force than needed. A small kid believing that, should she not see the monster behind the bed it would not see her. She started to tremble as the grind of its limbs started to get closer, its wet and dusty breathing contaminating the air around.
“That way…” It was almost upon her. “I’m begging YOU.” It was on top of her. Something fell on her head and she bit down her tongue to repress a wail, tears streaming down her face. As she sniffed, her hands blocked her nose and mouth, a part of her knowing what was tainting her silver hair yet trying to be as still as silent as possible.
“I love you, EMILIA.” She heard the horrifying sounds of it opening its creaking mouth, her mind correctly seeing the dozen rows of sharp iron teeth closing in on her. Before the bite could connect, a soft yet strong hand pulled her away from the danger.
Reinhard, blocking its mouth with his Dragon Sword, cutting it in half. After that he jumped, half-elf on his left shoulder, and put some space between the demon and himself. “Can you run, my lady?”
Emilia hugged herself more into Reinhard, her fearful and pained wails, free of the prison of her hands, echoed against the walls in a symphony of pure terror. Her arms and legs, jelly yet tight and unbreaking around the warrior. The creature stopped and tilted its head, as if enjoying the song dedicated to itself. Its mouth opened and a reptilian tongue made of red shadows sniffed the air. Blood started to slide down his second right arm. Reinhard paled.
As he looked at the half-elf, she soon lost strength and dropped to the ground, grievously injured in the stomach. Gaze steeling, the Sword Saint prepared its stance. It opened its mouth again. Before it could utter anything, Reinhard flashed in and cut it in half with a downwards slash. After that he shattered its now two torsos with a kick that sent both pieces flying to the end of the alleyway and plunging through a house.
His gaze flickered to Emilia, trying to see if the wound was bad enough as to warrant immediate evacuation. As he did a voice he had never thought he would hear again shook him to his core.
“The Divine Protection…” In the soft and loving tone of his grandmother, the hurried and slightly panicked voice was slightly distorted. Reinhard’s gaze returned to the demon, crawling out of the building while panicked screams retreated from the home, and forgot about the woman at his feet. “Reinhard…!” Fear appeared on it, causing the Sword Saint to slightly lower his blade, his Divine Protections, too slow to fully stop his internal turmoil.
“Wilhelm.” A tone uttered by those that had given up. His grandmother’s last words. The crack of the road’s stone echoed again as it advanced, uncaring for the wounds that were already repairing themselves.
“Can you understand me, demon?” His eyes, trying to recover their strength from before. Time was ticking and…
“You murdered her, monster.” Wilhelm’s angered, blaming voice was his answer. Reinhard backed a step.
“Too late.” Ice started to cover the alleyway. Reinhard turned to look at the now corpse, both surprised and ashamed. On it, the Beast of the End was being unleashed. The demon seemed to cackle yet was still advancing towards both of them, as if incapable of understanding its situation.
“You are no GRANDSON of mi-ne.”
As those words were uttered the three way battle between the three monsters started in earnest. Or would have done so if two of those didn’t turn their attention towards the demon, unleashing their respective attacks. And it would have started in earnest if a black-haired man, that had just arrived in ignorance, didn’t jump in and push the First of Ten again from the danger, putting himself in the middle of that titanic battle.
…
Subaru gasped, clenching his chest where the dragon sword had pierced, trembling out of pure cold. Hyperventilating, he fell to his knees in the same place he had arrived at this world. Blinking and not understanding anything, his eyes looked around, noticing that time had regressed and that all the sights he had seen first before rushing behind the demon were the same.
“Did…did I travel back in time?” His trembling gaze moved to his left, where the First of Ten had tilted its head and was staring at him in the same position he had appeared with. Its actions, different than before, revealed that it had done so alongside himself.
Next he patted his chest, having felt both the pain of the sword and the ice of that terrifying monster. “I…do you know what…what happened?”
It tilted its head further, the blood fire in its eyes and birdcage, on him. “It’s not deAD?” It muttered, its several questioning gazes on the mortal that had refused death.
“De…dead? That…I couldn’t…I…I died, right?” His voice cracked. Arms hugging around himself, Subaru slowly kneeled on the floor, the sounds of chaos and a kid being saved gone unheard. “I…it was so cold…and it was so scary…” His empty, traumatized gaze went to the demon that he had appeared together with. “I…did I manage to save you?”
The scarecrow moved closer, unable to feed from the fear in front of it, not even tasting it. “It won’t die.” But something was clear to its bestial mind. The anomaly in front had dragged it together with him to the past even after its own existence had been destroyed. Was this yet another chain to overcome? Another seal? Or a tool to use? The connection, evident to it now.
“I…see…” Subaru’s snicker was emotionless. Hands trembling, he ignored the looks around and started to tilt himself forward and backward, still seated in the middle of the ground. “Well, I do not know what I expected. I am still me even if in another world.” His trembling continued, minutes giving way to an hour.
Yet the scarecrow finally moved itself and placed itself in front of the mortal. Its aggravating voice, still as migraine inducing as always. “It won’t die.” The nails of its right claws, moving with tenebrous intent, not understanding why the mortal was not fearing it nor why it was being denied its meal.
“I…” As Subaru turned to the familiar figure of his old world, his eyes gained a bit of light. Shaking his head, he rubbed his tears off his eyes and jumped to his feet. The demon followed every one of his movements, torn between testing its theory or moving to better prey. “Thanks, Sticks. Can I call you that?”
The demon tilted its head even further. Had it had a proper neck, it would have broken. Instead, the rusted metal just groaned.
“I will take that as a yes, Sticks!” Forcing a laugh, he stretched and looked around. “So, I was reincarnated with the power to Return from Death, huh? The precondition to activate it being pitiful is so like me.” His gaze returned to the Scarecrow. “But I got a jungler from league so maybe it's not that bad, so long as you can’t question ping me on repeat.” Another small laugh, this one a bit more honest even if still forced.
“Hungry.”
Subaru blinked and looked around. “Well, I don’t see any raptors so…Wait, I have something here…” Turning his attention back to his shopping bag, he pulled a bag of potato chips. He handed it to Sticks. “There you go.”
The demon looked at the bag of chips and then at the mortal. “Nooo!”
“Oh, right, you are all…metal? Wait a second, what are you? I never did read the lore so…” Subaru copied its head tilt, not really knowing what the scarecrow in front was nor what it needed. “So, no chips?”
The demon said nothing, staring back at the mortal in front. After a long while, it muttered, “Agony.”
“I…I’m sorry Sticks, I don’t know what you really want.”
The scarecrow turned to its left just to see the Sword Saint land in front of them. Tilting its head again, it inspected the threat in front, knowing itself to be overpowered by this…creature, anomaly, Divine? It now knew itself to be in real danger and its only resource of further survival laid in the weak mortal at its side.
“You?!?!” Subaru, fear evident in his face, pointed at Reinhard yet, instead of backing away, jumped in front of the demon trying to protect it once the Sword Saint unsheathed its blade. “What are you…” Subaru turned to Fiddlesticks, remembering how he had died, and screamed a command. “Q him, Sticks!”
The demon turned to the foolish mortal before a pull from inside itself caused him to turn towards the Sword Saint. Power surging from its interior. It pulsed, bent. An overpowering sensation, even tastier than the deepest of fears of the greatest cowards, the Ancient Evil could only enlarge itself. Its mouth opened and a wave of reddish shadows was spat with murderous intent.
The corrupt energy flew too fast to be dodged, striking the Sword Saint in its face. Its body visually expanded, an explosion of shadows sourcing from him as the evil energy did its work. Yet, after a few seconds, it dispersed again, leaving him unfaced and destroying his plan of retreating.
“Is…is he immune to cc?!” Subaru backed a step and looked behind. Maybe he could only nullify one spell? “Let’s try to silence him! Sticks, E him!” Subaru pointed at the Sword Saint as he uttered his next command. His posture and expression, that of a general facing overwhelming odds.
This time the power came from below. Power overwhelming that demanded only a release. And so, without knowing why, the Ancient Evil swung its scythe. By all accounts, it should have tasted only air. Instead, reality was torn asunder as a two metres wide, six metres long curved line made from impossible shadows torn through the road and Sword Saint, destroying all in its wake and devouring it into its shadowy embrace in a four metre tall desolation. Dust made from burnt and corrupted clothes together with atomised air and the upper part of the road were the only consequence of such a magical attack as the Sword Saint, blade out, had parried the impossible. The shadows itself, rapidly incinerating due to the setting sun.
Reinhard frowned, able to notice the utter fear in Subaru’s mind. The evil hunger in that…spirit? Demon?, too concerning to ignore. “My apologies, spirit user, but I…”
The boy’s panicked voice cut him off. “Alright, plan B. Ult us away, Sticks!” Saying that, Subaru threw himself into the demon.
This time, the monster noticed no pull, no compulsion, as if that command was locked due to its own lack of progress. The Sword Saint, having been prepared to dash, tilted his head. “The crows are CIRcling.” Incapable of signing, the demon readied itself for its last stand. Its sober inclination was, of course, interrupted by a small whimper.
“...oh…You…you are not level 6?”
Fiddlesticks turned its head towards the mortal, not understanding him, the situation, nor what was happening. “Nooo!”
And so the boy turned to the still ready for combat Sword Saint, having received not an iota of apparent damage to himself. “...” And an awkward silence stood in the now evacuated main road that was quickly being filled with knights and guards. “Can…can we talk about this? I…I don’t want to die.”
Reinhard stopped at the honest plea. Faced with his clear terror of him, the Sword Saint understood not why the spirit user in front was trembling due to him after himself being the one to suddenly attack him. He may be a monster but that… His eyes turned backwards as a titanic figure was revealed from the location of a loothouse.
And so the Beast of the End started the new ice age. A wave of frigid, absolute zero temperatures started to rapidly freeze up the capital as Reinhard jumped towards the new enemy, grimacing as countless ice statues were created in front.
The Ancient Evil, instead, grabbed its lifeline with its third claw and rushed forward in a nightmarish rush that was heartstoppingly fast. But not even inhumanity could outrun Puck’s fury and so, amidst a freezing world, Fiddlesticks curled into a ball around the mortal, its instincts moving him to try and secure it. Their connection, seemingly real. Maybe if it survived it would be able to…
The rusted steel and iron cracked and broke under the extreme change of temperatures. The Ancient Evil’s corporeal form, shattered. The boy below, dying again.
…
The afternoon sun feeling too cold, Subaru fell to his knees, his body trembling out of pain and sheer fright. The cold, the ice, his skin and flesh shattering. His lungs turning solid and breaking apart. His… Now on four hands, he puked his guts out, eyes glassy and empty. Falling into the muck uncaringly, he continued his trembling, unable to forget, to stop remembering the sensations of his body breaking like the frozen puddle that gets stepped in.
The Ancient Fear blinked not, living again in the past. What’s more, it recognised that entity of before. That strange warm-blooded that was cold all the more. And it had felt its fear, the fear of loss. So delicious, so appetising. And dangerous all the more. It creaked as it turned towards the human at its feet, its fear still as bland as ever. The instincts, proven right again. It creaked more as it crouched in front of it. The connection tugged.
“Save ME.”
Subaru blinked, that grating voice pulling him out from his panic attack. Blinking now more quickly, he turned towards the demon. Its figure, shadowed by the memory of it dying protecting him. “S-Sticks?”
Its nod, too fast, too janky, too abnormal.
“You…why?”
“I will help YOU. Follow my voiCE.” With a screech, it crouched all the deeper, the stares of the demonic crowns inside the birdcage made out of cold, red, fiery eyes.
Subaru’s trembling lessened. “Will…will you, really?”
The demon moved not, answered not. Their connection, there, evident. What were its limits? Its function? Where would it take it? Would it unveil the keys? Would it repair what was broken? Unite the fragments? At the very least, his survival was important, for it would be its own. It extended a claw, too instinctive to see the pull bringing the two of them together.
Subaru’s lost stare turned to it. A deal with the devil. Hope in wickedness. The comforting embrace of darkness. The undying shadows at the start of morning. His shaky hand grabbed into the cold and hurting metal, reminding him of the ice yet allowing him to raise to his feet. His face broke into a tense, forced if a bit honest smile. “Thanks, Sticks. I needed that. Now…what the fuck is happening in this new world.”
Turning around, he grimaced at the wetness in his clothes, the pungent odour of the vile now attacking him. His gaze traced the place where that terrifying beast had come out. Shuddering a bit more, he eyed Fiddlesticks yet, after warming his hands by rubbing them against each other, he started to advance forward just for Reinhard to land in front.
Gulping, the boy turned to the First of Ten and, after a few seconds, threw himself onto the ground. “Please! Please do not kill us! I will do anything but, please, leave us alone!!” And shamelessly begged for their own lives.
The people around, his shrieks having baited their attention, were now attentively watching as a shifting Sword Saint moved his gaze from demon to scared mortal.
“I intend nothing of the sort.” Trying to call him down, Reinhard moved his hands away from his blade. “I…just felt the need to…” He grimaced a bit at the falling tears and overall aspect of Subaru. His mind felt on the cusp of breaking and that confused the Sword saint even further. Coughing, he put on his best disarming smile and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. “You are a spirit user, right? I simply came to confirm if you were capable of controlling that…spirit of yours.”
“Oh, you…you mean Sticks there?” Sniffing, Subaru’s gaze flickered between the two of them. “Of course not, he is just a bundle of joy!”
“Don’t be scaaaared. It can’t hurt you.” Its interjection made Subaru turn even paler.
Seeing Reinhard tense up at its inhuman voice, Subaru jumped off the ground and, putting his left arm around Fiddlesticks upper part, he forced a laugh. “Hahaha, just, ignore his tone. He can’t quite get his words right. Really, he wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
Reinhard raised an eyebrow. While the boy in front seemed honest enough, the…creature at his left did not. “I see…I had not noticed you two before. What was the objective behind coming to the capital of our kingdom?”
“Well, we came here on a whim so…not really an objective. Talk about being carefree, right?” Another laugh, this one almost not forced. “But no worries, we will be leaving quite quickly so…” His arm nudged the demon forward and it surprisingly felt compelled to allow this mortal to get away with this much, the metal that worked as his feet moved with the gesture.
“And are you sure you can reel that spirit in case anything happens?” Reinhard moved a step to his right, blocking their escape route. “Because I would be able to take care of it or find experts that may able to communicate with it.”
“What are you saying…wait, I don’t think we have each other’s names?” His smile widening, he struck a weird pose that was a bit uneasy thanks to the storm of emotions behind his black eyes. “Natsuki Subaru, spirit user, presents himself!”
“And I am the current Sword Saint, Reinhard Van Astrea.”
“Fid-dle-sticks, end OF men. FID-dle-STICKS, first of TEN!” The words reverberated with evil intent, leaving no doubts of the mocking honesty in them.
Reinhard’s sharp glare returned to the demon while Subaru, forcibly laughing again, slapped the Ancient Evil in the back, its body clinking in corroded metal. “He is just so silly, right?”
An uneasy nod. The people around, visibly creeped out, were trying to return to their daily lives, even if a good portion were still staring intently at the three of them. A silver-haired half-elf also went away, resuming her search after making sure this commotion was not about her insignia. “I see…” The Sword Saint shuffled on his position, not knowing how to act right now. The Divine Protection was, itself, a warning. But was it for exterminating the threat or simply overseeing it? “Are you able to fully trust this…spirit, sir Natsuki?”
A few nods yet his gaze moved towards the sun, soon to set. His eyes widened in panic. “I will! Do not worry about it but we really gotta go now…” Subaru turned towards Sticks, a pointed stare on him.
The demon, too locked into the fears inside the loothouse, muttered. “...my first battle to THE death with a giANT.”
Subaru tensed up again. “You…you are saying someone is in danger there?” The boy trembled again, remembering his past deaths. All the more reason to leave as quickly as possible!
The demon turned towards him with its non-existent human face. Subaru blinked again. The demon that had saved him, that had died for him. That he had died for. His gaze went to the scared people around. Scared. Of course. Death was scary. It hurt. It was a horribly, lonely experience. Utterly cold. It…it… His gaze turned solid. The demon tilted its head, the bounty it could not devour suddenly gone. “...do they need help?” Sticks had wanted to help someone, after all.
“Sir Natsuki?” Reinhard, catching up on his quickly changing emotions, was surprised to see now determination and a willingness to help despite its cracks.
“Sorry, Rein, gotta go places, you know how it is!” Fearlessly jumping into the demon, Subaru pointed at the point where he had seen the Beast of the End before. “The cavalry is coming! We are ganking at level three, Sticks!”
The demon, immensely happy to move towards what would become enormous waves of fear, got into its five and rushed forward, leaving an utterly confused Sword Saint behind. Of course, for that feast to happen it must arrive just at the right time. And so it would.
…
Breaking into the loothouse wheezing and puffed due to the sheer strain of holding onto the demon, Subaru gazed inside. A surprised old man and a scared child. “The…cavalry…is…here…” Losing his grip, Subaru dropped onto the floor. “But it needs…a minute. Just…let me regain my breath.”
Their suspicions somewhat lightened by Subaru’s current state, Rom’s hand softened around his bat while Felt advanced a step. “What cavalry?! And why would we even need reinforcements?!” She blinked, now looking around. Where had that spirit gone to?
“Wait…weren’t you in danger?” Subaru turned towards the two of them, still lying on the ground. He blinked, his eyes moving up. “Wait…then…why did we go this fast?!”
“I don’t know and I don’t know who you are so beat it already! We were busy!”
“Yes, yes, but…”
“Oh, am I interrupting something?” A dark, tantalising yet equally poisonous tone intruded into the room. Elsa, ducking slightly under the doorframe, looked around inside. “Oh, I see there is an extra outsider here? Isn’t that a bad business choice? I had taken you for dependable enough for this small job.”
“We do not know that guy! He just broke in and was spewing bullshit before we were going to kick him. We have the insignia and you, our payment so let’s make the transaction…” Felt backed a step, retreating closer into Rom as Elsa’s smile darkened around its corners.
“Now, now, why the rush? Or was this man here just a set up?” Elsa tilted her head a tiny bit, her smile widening. A knife had appeared in her right hand and she was rotating it. “If not, how would a random nobody locate your hiding spot?
A chill creeping down his spine, Subaru scrambled out of the floor and retreated next to the other two, his body already recognising the dead end in front. She was screaming death.
“It is not yin magic for this moron to randomly walk into a house.” Felt’s glare tried to remind Subaru that they were opponents. Against her wishes, Subaru tensed up and put himself in front of Felt, arms wide as if to try to cover her.
“Oh, isn’t that adorable?” The knife spun faster. “The valiant hero, cowering and trembling in fear from the big bad evil yet trying to act its part…You have made this tedious job worth it, boy.” Her smile, now pure evil. Her voice, a purr. “Now, what colour will your bowels have, I won…” The metallic sound of something falling behind her made her turn in a flash. Armed now with two knives, she slashed twice at the innocent scarecrow that had fallen from the ceiling. Cut into three pieces, the rotten metal caused a cacophony as its pieces bounced on the floor.
“Sticks!”
“Sticks?” Elsa turned around, her chuckle truly entertained. “That was your ace? Trying to scare me to death with a little scarecrow?” A blink and she was in front of him. Subaru froze up yet Elsa’s face moved until her lips almost touched his ear, enjoying the cowering girl and fearful man behind. “Maybe with a second one it would have worked out.”
“Trying to scare me to death with a little scarecrow?”
Elsa tensed up, the mirrored words in her tone, uncannily perfect. That small gap of opportunity, a strike of the bat that forced the bowel hunter to jump backwards. That dodge put her into Fiddlestick’s grasp, it clawing into her shoulders and throwing her with violence through the walls at their right. The demon, its face moving as if laughing and reptilian tongue out, rushed behind with matching speed.
“What sort of…” Rolling on the ground, Elsa threw half a dozen needles into the charging demon. All hitting true, not one seemed to do any damage despite piercing deep into its mainframe, some even killing crows. “That’s no…”
The voice of the kid of before, now an executioner’s order. “Q her, Sticks!”
The wave of energy thrown at her darkened her world. Light stopped existing, its warmth also gone. The cold air, the sensations under her feet, gravity itself, she felt herself in an unfeeling void. An empty, dark room. Alone…Not. A red eye opened in front of her. Lacking eyelids, or anything that a normal eye should have, it was but the sketch one attributes to the monster under their bed. To the nightmares that refuse to be remembered once morning comes. A blood doorway into the reality of a dying fire. Lacking any emotion, its neverending stare pierced her thoughts, searching for something locked behind warrior’s discipline.
Another opened next to the first one, smaller. The third was bigger. The fourth, the fifth, the sixth. Soon enough she was inside a room made of judging stares, all peeling away her clothes, her skin, her muscles. Seeing the monster below, the vampire, the doll. And they were not impressed. They were…only bored. Staring out of having nothing better to do. She flinched. All the eyes blinked at the same time, a wave of interest, of hunger, appearing on them. They were now more intense, larger, brighter. They invaded the ground below her feet, black tendrils locking her legs, her arms. The reds grew in intensity yet started to get tainted by shadows.
Elsa tried to turn around, her knives not able to cut anything as they were not in her hands. She was disarmed, utterly defenseless. Chained. She blinked and panic started to pump adrenaline into her, her pulls and tugs useless despite it. The eyes blinked again, their gazes even more intense. She growled and forced herself into a fighting position despite the tendrils, her trained mind keeping the fear away.
“Good luck, sister.”
Those three words made Elsa’s head face the source of that voice, the reddened image of Meili, just as she had looked when she had left her before taking this job. The fear swelled and the eyes grew in power. Their staring, now ravenous. No longer waiting, they tore her mental image away, shredding her into pieces while they tried to get into her core, into that sweet nectar of fear. The image of Meili screamed, being hurt in the same way. Elsa could only watch in abject terror as she was dismembered in front of her. Her bowels, ones she had not wanted to see.
She screamed in rejection. The illusion vanished. Elsa blinked, not knowing where she was. Light, air, gravity, the touch of rock, of blood flowing from her. She was in an alley, somewhat far away from the loothouse. The scarecrow of before, its three arms tearing pieces of her away from her body. The pain, a numbed sensation thanks to her training, told her that she was dying. A deeper look and she saw a demonic light emanating from its bloodied mouth. Its claws, the same energy melting away her flesh as it was absorbed into the entity in front.
“Meili…run away. Hide.” The demon was the one which voiced her last words while her vision blackened and her soul was consumed. A buffet of fear that would be forgotten once she left its sights. ‘Oh…so mine were that colour…’
…
“And there he goes…” Subaru sighed, body still tense and abdomen contracted. “Thank God we got here in time, huh…”
“That…that bitch!” Felt scowled. The deal now gone and their hope destroyed, she had half a mind in running behind the strange spirit and bowel hunter. Rom’s steel grip on her shoulder, securing her in place. A shake of his head and she relented with a deep sight. Her gaze now on the also strange spirit user in front, she muttered, “Well, thanks for the help.”
Turning to her, Subaru flashed her a smile and a thumbs up. “All in a day’s work! Well, it was mostly Sticks’ work but I helped!” His warm tone, revealing his pride at having saved them from danger. “Now…how do I find him again…”
“...aren’t you a spirit user? Shouldn’t you have a pull, a feeling of your contract?” Rom interjected, not unwilling to return the favour.
Subaru hummed loudly, trying to see if that feeling was anywhere. “Humh…Is that like…someone softly tugging at your sleeve? There’s no minimap nor quest mark so it is very hard to take into account…” His body ran out of adrenaline and relaxed.
The knock of a silver-haired half-elf on the doorframe caused the three of them to turn. Emilia, with Reinhard behind, opened her mouth to say something. Subaru’s guts spilled out together with a wave of blood, the forgotten wound not able to be ignored anymore.
……