Emeth

The Hourglass Order

The Riddle of Lindenholdt - A Lonely Walk

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Morning came on the fourth day of Caldores: Eshiran's day. Funeral services were to be held out in the cold, open air. Xiuyang considered attending. It would have been easy to acquire a mourning dress, cover her face in a veil, and remain anon, to keep the emotions of those mourning... uncomplicated—but the people of Lindenholdt did not deserve any more deception.

Instead, while the majority of the town was sparsely populated, she decided to take this opportunity to go for a walk to clear her head. That walk would take her out of town, deep into the forest. She didn't quite know where, but she knew that the place she wanted to go was out there somewhere, in the general direction of the cabin.

On her way, she passed several people. All of them, without fail, had multiple bundles of flowers in their arms, and Xiuyang wondered at how the town could have such a formidable supply of them, especially this time of year. She scratched the side of her head in disbelief. Then, all at once, she came upon the answer: the site of her duel with the tier 4 demon. Oh. The flowers I created that night. Some of them survived? Looking around, she found the culprits. A few enterprising young girls had plucked and kept them, and were now selling them to the mourning for a pittance. For the poor, the hustle never stopped, not even for a funeral service.

One of the girls gasped, pointing at Xiuyang. How careless of me. She had been trying to avoid children. Their words hurt the most by far. Any minute now, they'd be calling her—

"Blumendame!"
Spider Lady. ...Huh?

She turned back around again. Blooming Lady? She didn't quite get it right, but she was close enough. One of the girls ran up to her, flowers in hand while the lady in question stood confused. "Blumen!" She presented the small flower wreath excitedly, reaching up as high as her little arms could.

"For me?" Xiuyang pointed to herself for clarity. The little girl bobbed her head eagerly. "Uh huh!" She stood on her tiptoes. Xiuyang lowered herself into a squat so she could reach, but another of the girls said something in that obnoxious tone of voice they used when arguing over trifles, calling each other a stupid head or some such thing. "Don't worry, I'll pay. Here," she said, offering the girl a Drachen to hopefully placate her friend. However, the argument seemed to escalate, getting more emotional, and the little girl who had given her the crown of flowers looked hurt. She turned back to the Revidian with tears in her innocent eyes, seeking some validation, but Xiuyang did not know what to say to comfort her.

"She say Flower Lady can grow her own flowers," a woman beside Xiuyang translated. She turned to look at her, and now recognized both the woman and the child. It was the little girl she'd saved from the demon's cauldron, and her mother. "My daughter want thank you, given flowers. No pay."

Xiuyang turned back to the girl and reached out her empty hand. The girl tottered over, blinking away her tears and took it with a big smile. "I want thank you too," she explained, pressing the coin into her palm. "Please take." The girl—with eyes not comprehending, lips slightly parted to make way for a protest she did not have the words to voice—sought her mother's face for clarity, and with a soothing voice of reassurance, she translated. "Okay!" she answered with the happiest smile Xiuyang had seen in a long, long time. She couldn't resist giving back the biggest smile she could make and ruffling the kid's hair fondly—which made her positively scream with childish glee. Without this girl, she would have let the good she did here get completely washed away by the bad.

The Revidian didn't linger long. There was something she needed to do. She walked out onto the trail, reaching out with all her senses. It was around here somewhere... nope, that was a scagbiist. Alright, other way. She wisely turned to take another path, and, after searching for about half an hour, she found it: a body, buried separate from the rest of the freshly-dug graves, lest it be defiled, or cause the others to seem defiled by its presence among them. "Hello, Berthold," Xiuyang greeted as she found the unmarked grave. It, too, was freshly dug, and the body was headless. She believed it to be him, though she was disinclined to probe it with her senses any further to confirm the truth. The dead, in death, ought be given peace.

The Revidian had mixed feelings, both about what she had done, and what she was here to do. "The gods' justice will have been swifter than mine," she began. It felt a little odd, talking to a dead man that she despised. "By now, you'll have learned the truth. A false love from a false relative. A head and heart filled with lies and bitterness not your own. A once-in-a-generation talent wasted and a life cut short. I judged you guilty, but I'm not sure if Dami did the same. I don't know where you are, or if you lie in rest or torment." She pondered. "Of all the treachery in Lindenholdt, you suffered perhaps the worst betrayal of all. Now that it's all over, I can see that." She took a seat on a nearby log. "Feels like I'm always regretting the deaths of those I kill. Maybe that's the lesson the gods are trying to teach me—that it's the hearts of those who do wickedly unto others that hold the most pain, and by adding to it, and not showing mercy, we manifest ignorance, and not justice." It felt unfair, she thought to herself, to watch the evil cause so much suffering that would never be repaid, but the gods' ledger was different from hers, and their justice perfect.

"Do not misunderstand me. I make no excuses for your actions. I hope you regret what you did—what you might have done if I had not stopped you—but I will not make excuses for myself, either. Of all the lectures I've received in my life, this one was the shortest: 'Be ye angry, and sin not.' Vengeance is the hereditary sin of my family, but I swore to be different from my father. I did wrong by you. For that, I am sorry." She frowned. "I should know better than anyone that the gods are merciful. May Dami show you the mercy I denied you, and a double portion of judgment be reserved for the one who used you like a tool. May you someday earn absolution for your sins, and perhaps forgive mine, as well." She stood up, and walked to the unmarked grave. She removed the crown of flowers from her head, placed it on the grave, and walked away.

The Hourglass Order

The Riddle of Lindenholdt

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Xiuyang and Ingrid peel off from the group to find Berthold. Who they find instead offer answers to nearly everything—almost too many answers. Are these people trustworthy? Afterward, Ingrid catches Johann threatening Margarethe's life, Xiuyang receives some exclusive information, and hatches a plan to use both of these to bring Johann down for good.

Breaking and Entering

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Xiuyang saves innocent people, including a child, from the clutches of a dangerous... soup demon? Why is it always food?

The Demon's Cauldron

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Marci finds Xiuyang out of sorts over the words of Edyta Laska. After offering words of comfort alongside an unwanted Evander, the two find Roslyn and have a heart-to-heart as a group.

Comforting Friends

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The trio of girls teleport to Ersand'Enise, where Xiuyang explains her plan, and they all gear up for the final battle.

Drastically Equipped

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Berthold, mad with ambition and bitterness inherited from Liesl Frickmayer, plans to sacrifice the entire town of Lindenholdt to a grand demon. As the biros wake from the command magic trance and try to stop him, Xiuyang stakes both her body and soul in a desperate gambit to stop the ritual. As Iptacht's influence and sheer desperation both invade her mind, she torments a defeated Berthold with blood magic and is caught in the act by the very head of the Black Rezaindian Order, Mother Madrona.

Evil Repaid with Evil

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Expecting to be condemned and killed, Xiuyang fulfills her duty as a child of the Solari and absolves her family of her monstrous condition, crediting Oraff and Eshiran. She speaks a truth that rings close to blasphemy and receives mercy and understanding rather than condemnation—an experience that will shape her life and image of the church forever.

Absolution

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Xiuyang, sensing her humanity is on the line, takes a gamble to protect her mind from Iptacht's influence. The final battle begins with the tragic death of Marci and no time to mourn.

Iptacht, Grand Demon of Treachery

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Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"So many confessions lately, Rei. What am I, part of your local parish?"

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Once again, Rei had called a meeting with left and right hand girls respectively. Unlike the previous meeting, Rei, Roche, and Kiyo would be joined by the mysterious Nocnitsa. The four of them were seated around the center table, which still had some clippings Suki had used to construct Ash Bringer several months back.

"Seems they finally made their move." Rei was so aloof, she could have been mistaken for Kiyo if she had longer and different colored hair. She was reclining in her seat with her head propped up on her fist, and made absolutely no attempt to seem like she wanted to be there, despite being the one to call the meeting. "Nocnitsa told me everything. What I want to hear are your opinions."

Kiyo, by contrast, lacked her characteristic aloofness. What had stolen its place was a certain dreadful expectation, like that of an honor student who had failed bracing for their chastisement while trying to remain placid. Squatting at the foot of its ill-gotten throne was a blood-boiling rage that always threatened to emerge from beneath its shadow if not contained. Like a previously-dormant volcano set to erupt at a random time in the not-too-distant future, a certain kind of tension had risen the floor of her emotions, a trembling anxiety of the sort that typically only the intuition of animals or the precision of scientific instruments could detect.

"One of them has a power that manipulates the heart, and she seemed to take an interest in Tsubomi. I don't think they targeted her because she was vulnerable. They came in such force that a precautionary measure like that wouldn't be necessary."

"We can’t be certain of that. They launched a four pronged attack on this city. Morganite and Pearl came directly to the club room and fully planned to take one of us out. That Archer was covering most of the city from so far away they had to have some way to stay in contact remotely. Diamond abducted Tsubomi and led the rest of the club on her own, while that lightning girl was wrecking Miseria on her own."

"The only thing we can be clear on is that they cased us before attacking and planned it out with ruthless efficiency. At this point I’d assume they know our civilian identities and were we live as well." Roche bit the words out with a simmering anger. Where Kiyo was the volcano soon to erupt, Earthshaker wasn’t far behind, only curtailed by Rei’s presence serving as a threat to keep them composed.

"We might have won if we’d fought them together, but it still would have been a fight on their terms. Every time we meet some other Magical Girl, they’re always choosing the time and place while we react. Eventually we’re going to stop being lucky and start paying for letting the other girl throw the first punch here. Not that we can even consider going to the City of Light…"

Rei nodded along as they spoke. "Interesting observations." She sat up a little straighter. "But speculation does not solve the issue. I was more interested in what you thought of the new team arrangements." Rei tapped her finger on the counter. "It did not seem like making the teams larger increased their effectiveness."

Denied absolution by Roche's words, Kiyo's posture retreated slightly deeper into the back of her chair. Perhaps she was right, and the intensity of their coordinated attack on Tsubomi really was just a shallow attempt to 'teach the dark girls a lesson.' Perhaps she was projecting her own scientific curiosity onto a bunch of power-mad fools. It would certainly explain why their own token scientist figure seemed to be keeping her distance from them.

"It's a bit early to dismiss the idea. I think the teams were effective insofar as they were able to stay together. Our priorities were, perhaps purposefully, divided. If we had been operating in pairs, the outcome might have been worse—and I still believe my own team is the weakest of the three by a wide margin. A slight re-arrangement might suffice."

Speaking of the team wasn't pleasant, especially when Roche had been so uninvolved with Tsubomi’s kidnapping, but it was one area that Roche could meet Rei’s gaze without wavering in the least. "Without the teams I could have died. Shatterscape threw me out of the way of Pearl’s laser when I was closing on Morganite. We definitely applied more pressure as a trio then as a pair in pursuing them afterwards."

"The teams are a good idea, but we were naive in thinking we could coordinate as trios so quickly. Worse still, our teams thought we could divide and conquer because this is our city, but the Light Girls were coordinating between pairings. That was the deciding factor. Even when apart, they had support who could fire outside of Kiyo’s detection, and they had Morganite’s speed to engage us while Boilite and Diamond drew attention."

That was what rubbed at the Rule Keeper so harshly, because she knew better than most just how hard it was to train that degree of cooperation and trust into a group known for being so individualistic and stubborn.

Rei’s eyes settled on Roche, perhaps a bit too long, before looking between both girls. "Yes. It may just take time for the teams to acclimate. The GEMs have been doing this for a while. Their formations are solid." She looked to Kiyo. "I had hoped Oros would be able to make use of your talents, but she doesn’t work well with others. The only reason we put her on a team with Acid Drop was to mitigate the harm she could do to the Club, as she is immune to her. Endless Ecstasy was never the most effective." She shrugged. "But Acid Drop has become a full time liability. You are correct that your team needs to change." Rei adjusted her jacket with a tug before leaning in. "We could put you on another team but that’s still too much liability for one person to handle. Oros’s training wheels need to come off." Rei looked between both girls again. "How should we rearrange them?" Rei always had her own ideas, but it seemed she wanted to see if her ambassadors could figure out a solution.

Kiyo went through the options. All of the teams needed both muscle and leadership. She, Rei, and Roche needed to be on different teams. Suki would object to losing Tsubomi, and even if there was a chance Suki had soured on her, she would probably still prefer her to be being under Rei or Roche's leadership. Nyxia wouldn't want to be under anyone else, either. Shatterscape would probably rather not be moved, but would go along with it if she had to. Nobody wanted Willow, and Shatterscape wasn't compatible with Hizuki. Moving Hizuki to her own team would resolve the muscle issue, but if they formed a quartet, Willow would whine that Evil Eye had conspired to isolate her—never mind the relentless teasing that would flood her DMs.

As if in sync with her thoughts, her phone vibrated. When Kiyo's phone vibrated, it was almost always the group chat. Given that the other two's phones hadn't done the same, it was certainly a private message. For now, she tried to ignore it. "If the goal is to take the training wheels off, why not swap me and Hizuki and let Oros lead the team? And if my 'talent' is in keeping watch over everyone, me and Willow can do that from anywhere. Having me and her, both fliers together, and Hizuki and Oros, both speedsters together, Shatterscape with her multiple bodies around Hibusa and Nyxia's ability to launch herself and Earthshaker across the town, we maximize our ability to mobilize in unison and respond to these kinds of multiple-front attacks without drifting apart. It'll be more natural for the teams to stick together if they not only have personalities that mesh well, but also travel in similar fashion, and at similar speeds."

Rei raised an eyebrow. "I still question the effectiveness of Endless Entropy. But it’s a good strategy, isn’t it?" She smiled and looked between both magical girls. "Instead of balancing the teams, give them each a specialty they can lean into. What do you think, Roche?"

"I can’t believe I’m saying this, but letting Oros lead might be our best option." Roche exhaled and settled forwards, hands clasped under her chin as she considered Kiyo’s proposal. "She won’t work on a team with me, and if we put her with Willow…."

The less said the better. With Tsubomi becoming a vulnerability they couldn’t leave her with Suki either. "If she has her own team she may even grow into the role. It’ll let the rest of us focus on specializing. If we play to our strengths and get comfortable enough to integrate with other teams, this might just be the edge we need to close the gap in our response. Good thinking, Kiyo."

"It’s interesting enough to try." Rei smiled. "Very well, Evil Eye will join Shinimori and Hisuki will be moved to Endless Ecstasy." She looked at a clock on the wall and then back at her ambassadors. "Was there anything else that needed to be discussed?"

Kiyo felt that replacing herself with Hizuki would balance Oros's team better, but she decided to keep that to herself. A part of her had hoped Roche might counter with a better idea, but similarly to her, it was the only option she could really think of, and making an unappealing but workable option sound like the best course of action for everyone was a skill all leaders must develop to some degree. She chose to accept the cold comfort that she had come up with the best arrangement they could make, and swallow the pill that she would now be working directly with Willow, and all that entailed. You're doing it again, she counseled herself, a little too late.

With that task filed away, she took the opportunity to check her message. Funnily enough, it was Hizuki. Perhaps I can start laying the groundwork for those two to work together. Kiyo typed a quick response, and then her eyes entered that unfocused state they did when she looked through the eyes of her Mogall. Still, she continued typing while blind to her screen. "Do we know what's happening to Tsubomi?" She replied to Rei's question while asking Hizuki another.

"I had hoped that she would come out of it, but that clearly isn’t working. Looking her over is something on Nocnitsa’s to-do list." Rei pointed at the woman with her entire hand.

"I had been hoping to get a gander at her mind back when we first met face-to-face, but she immediately left with Miss Oyama…" Nocnista sighed. "Not sure if my magic will be any effective in mending whatever’s wrong, I’m not exactly a healer either, but at the very least I should be able to see what’s wrong."

"Either way she’s vulnerable and the GEMS know it. Even if they changed targets from Mascots to Magical Girls between attacks, we can’t hope they’ll ignore an easy target. Especially one we’ve already proven we’re willing to follow blind to recover."

The Rule Keeper kept finding new reasons to sigh, wondering when the world was flipped on its head so completely. "Here we are, Dark Magical girls defending the defenseless from roving packs of marauding Light Girls. Yare yare daze…."

"So that's it. They were going to use their 'happy daze' to interrogate her on where our mascot is hiding out," Kiyo decided. "I have seen it hanging around her from time to time," she mused.

"It usually hangs around the club, which they were able to find." Rei lifted an eyebrow. "But if the Mascot is the target, then why did they hit everything but the cat? Acid Drop and Shatterscape had been attacked previously. Like you, I thought that was to uncover the location of the mascot. But now I’m not so sure."

"Either they changed targets because Tsubomi was too tempting, or they didn’t have enough numbers to spread their attention on two dedicated objectives. If Pearl and Marganite had gone for the Mascot, that archer of theirs would have had a hard time covering them both against dedicated efforts."

"Whatever their objective, they know where we are, and they came with enough numbers to effectively declare war. So if they put one toe back into the city limits, I have no reason not to give them an army to fight, do I?" Kiyo inquired.

"It would be wise to avoid further escalation if we can. Things should have never gotten to this point." Rei groaned. "Working with incomplete information is such a drag. Worrying about the GEMs is such a drag." She stretched her arms. "Not having our domain secured by mogall is a drag. Think you have a handle on the ape problem?"

Kiyo thought they were past the point of hoping for de-escalation, but she bit her tongue again. Her chair offered no more give for retreat. "We confirmed who is responsible. I hope to recruit them, but they will be dealt with one way or another."

Roche’s eye slid to Kiyo before she settled back in her chair with a nod to the other pillar of the club. "Want help with that? Nyxia may not care since they aren’t Miseria, but I can convince her to help."

The question warranted Kiyo lowering her phone slightly. It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "You must know that she despises me more than anyone." She sent one more text before putting it away. "Unless she's had a sudden change of heart or spark of genius, she's just going to make convincing the girl we're a group worth joining more difficult."

"Sounds like you have it covered." Rei turned to Roche. "If that’s all, I’d like a moment with Kiyo."

Kiyo seemed somehow both surprised and not. Already, she regretted putting away the only barrier between her and Rei's gaze.

The Rulekeeper wasn’t going to disagree but she imagined if the needs must, then she could convince Kiyo of the merits of target practise against agile apes if this new girl forced the matter.Rei seemed intent on a moment of privacy so she made her excuses and pushed away from the table.

"Text me if anything comes up. I’m gonna do my own digging around Miso and see if anything comes up. Till next time." Roche said, departing with a hand raised before slipping out the door.

Rei watched her disappear through the door frame and waited for the door to close all the way. She sighed before leaning away from the table. "Defending Hibusa town with an army of terrors would be interesting." She waved for Nocnista to check the door, but Roche always shut it all the way. "The problem is Roche. Surely you’ve noticed that she’s been a bit agitated recently? I had Nocnista watching over the club when the GEMs attacked it, and she heard her say she ‘felt like breaking a few rules tonight.’ It was likely a figure of speech, but given that she said it to Nyxia, I'm inclined to believe she meant it more literally than not." She propped up her head with the back of her hand. "Do you know why those rules exist?"

Kiyo blinked in surprise, considering Rei's question as well as her accusation. From where she was sitting, everyone was a little more agitated than usual recently—with the exception of the new blood, Hizuki, who had no point of prior reference, the usual suspect, Willow, who never seemed to take anything seriously, and Tsubomi, who allegedly had no emotions—but even she had voiced a concern over the numbers not being in their favor. "No killing aside from the miseria, to keep the light girls out of our territory, and no exposing ourselves to the non-magic world, to keep any other interests, powers or organizations from involving themselves. There may be other reasons, but I think those should be self-evident," Kiyo replied. She did suspect, on some level, that Rei's Detention Club was allowed to exist in part because some light girls with a lot of influence in the nearby City of Light had agreed to allow it, so long as she was the one watching over it. The GEMs' recent display of power only gave her theory more weight, but she dared not suggest it openly.

"That’s what I tell most people when they ask." Rei picked her head back up. "And it’s not too far off. There’s another good reason why we don’t kill people though. It changes you." Her hands came together in front of her face. "Not immediately, but a gradual transformation takes place. Some people last a month, others turn in a week, but it happens. You turn into a special kind of miseria called a demon. I’ve only had to fight one and it was stronger than the giga miseria we battled the other night. I thought it was a rumor until I watched it happen to someone else." Her fingers locked together. "It was a mundane human that was killed, granted. Maybe it won’t happen if you kill a light girl, maybe it will but the transformation is slower. I wouldn’t risk it though."

Kiyo's mind raced in several directions. If she continued to cultivate negative emotion, was this what waited at the bottom of that well? If nothing useful could come from turning into a demon, why was Rei keeping it a secret instead of warning others? Why was she telling her this now? Was 'Demon of Hibusa' a figurative title or a literal one? "You're telling me Roche knows better," Kiyo decided. "I can watch her, but I'm curious why the others are being kept in the dark about this. Is there some reason why someone would want to become a miseria? Is Ashbringer a demon? Her destruction was awfully reckless." Now that she thought about it, this could be the real reason Rei was so angry about the beach incident, too.

Rei lifted a hand in an attempt to get Kiyo to slow down with the questions. "Explaining things is such a drag." She lowered her hand. "Roche is my rule keeper. No one should be opposing the rules. Guess part of me figured everyone slept easier not knowing the consequences. Don’t think most would set out to be a demon. Maybe out of spite, or extreme despair, one might turn to becoming a demon as a final act of revenge." She let silence hang in the air for a moment before commenting on Ashbringer. "She’s not a demon. I got a sense for her mana when I approached her and she’s too weak."

Rei's silence was deafening. She said she had seen it happen before, after all. There was little use probing further on the matter. "Since you're telling me this now, are you reconsidering? I can watch Roche, and call you if she engages a light girl, but I can't hear what she says, or stop her—not remotely. If I were there with her, maybe. A hard maybe. If more than one of the others are feeling murderous too, not likely." She seemed to be running calculations in her mind.

"I’m telling you this because my rule keeper is slipping, and she’s doing it on purpose." Rei folded her arms. "You need to be aware of what’s at stake. She is bothered by something, and I believe you have the best chance of figuring it out. If we’re going to wage war with the GEMs, we need to be in our best condition. Roche is not her best right now."

So, they were on the same page regarding the GEMs. Kiyo resisted the urge to smile. "She's an emotional pack-rat. Always looking for more burdens to carry. Even that trip to the beach was an attempt at getting the club girls to get along—it might've even worked if things didn't go awry, but I'll bet she planned and organized and paid for the whole thing herself. On the surface, she's keeping it together, but up here, she's like a single mom with eight kids." She prodded her temple to make the point. "I told her as much. I see a bit of that in Hizuki as well—that's why I volunteered to take her under my wing. Roche doesn't need a disciple, she needs an intervention, but she seems determined not to get it. I feel like we could organize a whole 'Roche appreciation party' and she'd just spend the whole day worried that she's not having enough fun for our sakes." Kiyo pinched the bridge of her nose, seeming to momentarily forget that it was Rei she was ranting to. "Ah, anyway. It's on my list. I'll think of something."

"Of course you will." Rei stood up and dusted herself off. "The goal is to return things to normal as fast as possible. We can focus on better than normal later." Once she straightened her posture, she looked out one of the windows. "It’s a nice day for a walk. We shouldn’t spend any more time here."

"Nice day for a jog," Kiyo agreed.

The Hourglass Order

The Riddle of Lindenholdt - Enemy Mine

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Xiuyang investigates the Grunewalds' Haureenium mine, entering alone into a magic-suppressing zone. After reporting her findings to Marceline, she narrowly escapes capture by Revidians and a dark mage. Then, she goes to retrieve the bodies of the two missing men, one of which is in the possession of a strange woman. They try to escape Xiuyang, but she begins to give chase.

Archives

"Get lost in the sauce instead.... tonight." Marceline's would-be-witty response lost steam quickly, but she waved goodbye and good luck with a promise to check in, which reminded her that she needed to check in on the crypt group.

After that, Xiuyang was - for the first time in quite a while - on her own. The clouds parted to reveal a stark and white but welcomely warm sun. Her path took her across the open farm fields to the east of the town, their haystacks rising, dull and flaxen gold, glistening with melted snow in the noontime light.

Stretching out her senses, she could feel the edge of the forest approaching just as well as she could see it, with its changes in kinetic, chemical, and thermal energy compared to the fields. The narrow track that she was following became overgrown, but it was still passable and, in the distance, as it rose, the ground became rocky and conductive. First, however, lay a stretch of swampy ground, bristling with dead trees, scraggly bushes and vines, and murky half-frozen water.

Xiuyang took deep, measured breaths and tilted her head up to feel the sun on her face. The relative silence of the open fields compared to the busy market, the clean and unremarkable air—how long had it been since she'd taken a moment to appreciate these things? They felt increasingly luxurious next to her time at the Forge and her always-expanding daily itinerary of tasks and worries. "I'm thinking like an old maid," she chided herself out loud in Rettanese, an image of a grandma sitting in a chair outdoors doing nothing making its way through her mind.

Even the time she spent outside the walls of Ersand'Enise with its hurried crowds of students and familiarly pungent waterways was dedicated to running, but today, she indulged in the luxury of walking. Something within her tried to burden her with the blame for Marci's inability to enjoy something so simple, but she chased the involuntary thought from her mind like a bothersome fly. If she had gone with Marci, and they had succeeded in killing Juulet right then and there, then what? What would have become of her in Halge Larchelon without Juulet there to back her up? Would the Leviathan be stomping nations to dust even now? It was better to trust the gods' plans in these matters, she decided.

The terrain turned slightly more treacherous than a well-trodden path, and Xiuyang amused herself by stepping on stones and fallen trees when possible to keep her boots dry. She made no show of concealing her departure from Lindenholdt, as though she were up to no good such that she required it. In truth, a part of her hoped she was being followed—that a single, vulnerable student of Ersand'Enise wandering off by their lonesome would encourage one of many frustratingly hidden players biding their time to finally make a move and expose themselves.

Marci and Roslyn would surely scold her if they knew, but she felt at ease. No one could hasten her arrival into the arms of Eshiran, for she was there already and had comfort in them. As a girl, she had always seen the serene depictions of saints in deep reverence, and never seen it in the stone cold and judgmental eyes of any "serious" followers of Quentism alive today. This, surely, was the seemingly unattainable peace reflected to her in the faces of those saints. In her mind's eye, she could almost see herself in the stained glass.

She laughed out loud. It was absurdity and it was sacrilegious and it was her truest feeling right now, all at once. *Only after I nearly died, I see the beauty of life that was always in front of me. Life without death would be maddening.*

So lost in the simple beauty of a pleasant Somnes day and the reflection that came with it was Xiuyang, that she almost didn't notice the enormous energy signature doing its best to conceal itself amid the stumps and reeds. A great old skuggvar was waiting there, crouched and ready to pounce if she were to pass close enough. She could sense it clearly, no:, see it with the eyes of magic. It was at least a century old, with a faint brindle pattern and a damaged left forelimb that had never properly healed. Its eye on that side, as well, was blind, and a familiar blast burn snaked and twisted up that side of its body: a lightning burn.

Stealthily, the beast crept forward.

The beast crept forward, and the girl hopped to a new foothold, keeping a certain distance. The skuggvar advanced, and the Revidian hopped, as if playing a dangerous game. "Someone used you for target practice," Xiuyang observed somberly, her voice still soft and contemplative, her eyes quite focused on her feet, as if she hadn't seen her hunter just yet. "I wonder if reports of devils in the woods might be true, if a little exaggerated." As she stood on one foot, she dug out her beanie from a pocket and put it on.

*Ten seconds.* If a foothold would fail her, if the beast quickened its pace, if any sudden move would agitate it into striking, she would know and have the time to react and change course. Even an injured skuggvar was a foe she'd rather not trifle with. Its burns were indicative of the power of this weapon the locals and Revidians were fighting over, but she would worry about that later.

Even after doing so for several days in Yarsoc, Xiuyang would hesitate to call herself an expert on wilderness survival, but she knew exactly two things about predators: don't turn your back, and don't run. She proceeded with her stepping-stone game accordingly, hoping the beast wasn't out for the blood of any human that crossed its path after what had been done to it. It was likely a vain hope, so as she hopped, she slowly drew and used that energy to hop further and quicken her pace slightly, always keeping the beast's current hiding spot in the corner of her eye, but never going so far as to be obvious about the fact that she was onto it.

"As expected," Xiuyang exhaled. Her hands found her hips, but with no pistols attached. She would not get out of this easily as she had in the jungle of Palapar. As adrenaline flowed and time came to a crawl, she took pride in the fact that she, too, had finally become a person with experience, who could tell stories of adventure like the ones she read as a girl. That was only if she could outrun this thing, though, since she wasn't about to do worse to it than it already had done to it and lived.

She broke the rules of her hopping game and turned her back to the predator, beginning a series of leaps enhanced by her kinetic boots, drawing with binding from the earth behind her to fuel her next spell. The swampy trail in her wake became less ground and more water with every step, even more so than before, something which was surely still accommodating to the beast at first—for though it sunk deeper into the mire, it had little to contend with between them but some stubborn tree roots and fallen logs. Perhaps its injured forelimb hindered it more in water than on land, but it wasn't by much.

Then, with sudden violence, Xiuyang drew in all the heat that she could from the air and the ground, and turned the now very wet patch of swamp between her and the beast into something much more solid and very, very cold. Then, with eyes wide and hands shaking, she turned back and kept fleeing toward the shed she'd spotted. She didn't want to guess how many pounds of muscle an (almost) entire skuggvar added up to, or stick around to see how long the ice could hold it.

She panted, her breath freezing as it exited her body. "Anyo..." she stopped asking before she could finish the question. What if she ran into someone who didn't speak Avincian? How did she manage to forget something so basic before volunteering for this? No, before that, was that skuggvar still on her six? Like a frightened house cat, she took one last leap up onto the tied-up wagon and perched there before looking around the area.

A timely warning came in from Marceline, in the form of a pinch message. <Skuggvar. Is. Alert. | You. Have. Probably. Two. Minutes.> There was a pause. <We. Also. Found. The. Dead. Men. | People. Need. To. Know. But. I. Don't. Know. Who. To. Trust.>

The shed just ahead of Xiuyang, meanwhile, gave off the air of a place of unremarkable storage. It was dilapidated almost to the point of abandonment, and it would be a simple matter to open the basic lock on its door. If it was unoccupied right now, the trampled grass near its entrance made clear that it had at least been used recently. In fact... following the path did not appear to lead to the collapsed mine's entrance, which was overgrown and halfheartedly fenced-off.

Then, there was the remnants of the road, barely visible. Those did not appear to have been traveled anytime recently. There was a missing piece here…

Xiuyang nearly jumped out of her skin and lost her balance, falling into the wagon. Hells, Marci. The girl surely had opinions on the matter, but she had to deal with her current situation first. She could return a message, but it would be slow, like writing in a language one knew but didn't use often.

An estimate of two minutes. That meant ninety seconds to stay on the safe side, she decided quickly. Something about this area didn't feel quite right. Xiuyang decided to focus her use of the Gift on sensing her surroundings to expedite her search for objects of interest or hidden passages. Any attempt to purge her scent to slow down a skuggvar would likely be in vain. She couldn't be sure, but Abdel's confidence in their tracking ability always spoke volumes.

She'd only do a cursory search of the wagon she'd landed in, to see if she could find a clue as to what it was used to transport—though she did have her suspicions. Of greater interest to her was the shed. Even if its contents did nothing to aid her investigation, perhaps something that could be used as a weapon might be found inside.

<Tee. Hee.> came the response and, after a moment. <Sorry.> Then, it was just Xiuyang, her senses, and a task.

She found that the wagon was used to haul haureenium ore and quite a bit of useless rock. The dust and chips within it made that clear. The shed, meanwhile, seemed nondescript at first, but a quick unlock of the door and a peek inside revealed... There was a carpet and.... beneath the carpet... there was a trap door... and beneath the trap door was... a dead zone where she could sense nothing. Now, that was either the work of an incredibly rare scagbiist by coincidence, or else…

"This better not be another sewer," Xiuyang groaned as she set about opening the trap door. It was a matter of simple pragmatism. The entrance of the mine clearly hadn't been visited in a while, and she wasn't dressed for a chase through thick brush in any case. Also, the skuggvar wasn't going to give up easily so long as she remained in its territory—which did seem to include the mine, given its injuries—but there was a chance it might not follow her down where it couldn't sense anything.

Because quite frankly, this is a horrible idea, her mind concluded for her. <First. Cause. Death. Question. No. Coverups. Going. Dark.> With Marci's message returned, Xiuyang descended.

<Be. Safe.> came the reply. <Make. A. Big. Enough. Ruckus. I. Can. Still. Sense. If. You. Need. Help.>

After that, Xiuyang was into the dead zone, and she couldn't hear anything, at least, that indicated the skuggvar might still be on her tail. The faint hints of light quickly faded, but it wasn't stairs that she found herself going through. Rather, the path was wide and the slope shallow. More than once, she nearly tripped over the tracks that felt as if they had to be there for mining carts. Come to think of it, there had been signs of unloading next to the carpet - they had urged her to check it and now it had led to this.

Then, just ahead, she caught a glimmer of glass hanging from a peg on one of the walls.

Xiuyang presumed it to be a lantern, but approached with caution nonetheless. Her inability to sense her surroundings and reliance on light made her feel exposed. How quickly she had volunteered to visit a crypt at night alone, but somehow an abandoned mine just had a whole different vibe. Her new sources of strength didn't quite factor into how eerie the place was, much to her chagrin.

It was as if each stumble was a little reminder that she was not supposed to be here, and one misstep could lead into a fatal fall. We care more for the resting place of our dead than the workplace of our neighbor, I suppose.

For once, perhaps, she need not have worried. The lantern was exactly what it appeared to be. The mine continued, and it had clearly been in use very recently. Eventually, after about two minutes of walking, she reached a point where the tracks diverged. To the left, they seemed to continue downhill down a narrow and much-buttressed pathway. To the right, they leveled off and the path seemed to widen. There was a large wrought iron gate in the way.

Not so abandoned, it would seem. But that only makes it worse, she thought as she took the lantern and inspected the tracks. Upon reaching the fork, she considered carefully. One for raw material, one for finished product, she theorized. But the narrower path might also mean fewer hostiles. As her eyes flicked between the two, her instincts told her that the path behind the gate held both all the answers and all the danger. Except, perhaps, being hit by a mine cart.

...We found the bodies of the dead men. What am I even doing here? She sighed. Going further would mean getting involved, more than she wanted to. On the other hand, going back would mean contending with a skuggvar, and there would be no guarantee she'd get away with her trespassing scot free, either. Humorous as always, Vyshta. With a grim nod, she began attempting to pick the lock. Just because she couldn't sense around her with the Gift didn't mean using it wouldn't give her position away to someone else, after all.

Xiuyang did not necessarily fear the prospect of encountering her 'fellow countrymen.' The Revidian was used to talking her way out of just about any situation, and where fighting her way out was concerned, nothing could be worse than the Forge. What worried her was the prospect of them shooting first before asking questions, before a mage that could not sense a draw could react. She was not good with magnetic, and that skuggvar looked like it'd had a bad time. What am I looking for, really? What do I hope to accomplish? Her mind continued to ask difficult questions that she didn't quite have answers for.

Enough. Shune guide my steps. Eshiran spare me. Dami help me to be a fair judge. Xiuyang turned her racing mind to the mantra of prayer as she walked forward. Half of infiltration was an act, so she carried herself as someone who was supposed to be there. She was, after a fashion, invited to be here by both parties to this smuggling operation, after all.

Looking around, she noticed that her eyes perceived more than a normal human's eyesight would allow, despite the darkness. Even this was a reminder that she was... well, no longer a normal woman. It reminded her of the mask in her pocket, which she had yet to wear even once, despite knowing it held great power. It was, after all, made from the remains of that thing.

It had been a while. If she had been ashamed of what she'd become at that time—even if a little anxiety remained—she had accepted it now. Xiuyang decided that now was the time to wear it. She proceeded, hoping that her nerves were simply the result of her enhanced senses, but keeping an eye on the shadows nevertheless.

The mask slipped onto her face with a certain degree of discomfort but, on some level, it also... protected her. She slipped soundlessly along, surrounded by great stacks of crates, until she came to a wooden room built into an alcove in one of the walls. The door seemed to be quite securely locked - it was iron-framed and barred, and the wall planks were thick. She still had not quite found the end of the large chamber, but it seemed emptier, now. The mystery crates were fewer, and there were a large number of carts present where the main track reached a turntable and divided into four branches.

She could not yet sense anyone else, but she hadn't done so very much actual investigating either, for what it was worth.

Xiuyang peeked into the wooden alcove. If she were to imagine an enemy lying in wait to ambush her, this seemed like the most favorable spot. She was loath to lend her now rather precious eyes to the task of investigating the crates instead of searching for watchmen, but she did eventually have to decide that her nerves were getting in the way of the investigation. Surely, someone would be along eventually if she tarried too long. So, she began taking a closer look at the crates, and any carts that didn't appear empty.

In the event, there seemed not to be any motion from inside of the alcove and its makeshift office. There was no sound either, except for... There was. It was a faint hum, not unlike that which she had heard pervasively at Halge Larchelon. There was something magnetically-powered in there!

But then there were the crates and carts as well. Some of the latter were loaded with crates, seemingly ready to be shipped out somewhere. Of the former... none appeared open, at first, but that was until she noticed one stack of four, close to a cart, that sat a bit unevenly. The second one from the bottom seemed to have been damaged. Its lid was slightly ajar, only the weight of the two on top of it seeming to be holding it in place.

It was better than breaking one open and making even more noise. Deciding to leave the locked door—which was probably barred for safety as much as security—she set her lantern on the floor and began to move the crates so that she could access the damaged one.

So, this is a blitzwerfer. Admittedly, Xiuyang found herself admiring the craftsmanship in spite of herself and her situation, and lamenting that it was a bit too bulky to take with her—especially now that she was in a hurry. While she had closed the hatch behind her to put just one obstacle between her and the skuggvar, the carpet would still be out of place, and the lock picked. They would know someone was here. <Dangerous. Question.>

Without waiting for an answer to her casual inquiry as to whether or not Marci thought she could take them, she replaced the crates just as they were, picked up her lantern, and turned back. A plan was hatching in her mind. Leaving the wrought iron gate ajar and its lock opened and hanging loosely, she would let the two men waste their time trying to figure out where in that mess of crates, carts and tunnels she was hiding, driving themselves mad wondering if one of their own had simply been a fool and left the gate unlocked—while she investigated the other path.

Iolanda and Isacco were chatting as they headed down the shaft, just chattering away as they had since childhood: her, the big sister, and him, the precocious younger brother. With both of their parents in the Navy, they had spent many hours with each other at their grandparents' place in the foothills outside of Montericci, such that one often finished the other's sentences or instinctively helped the other with some task through unspoken contract. Those who did not know them assumed that they were twins, though she was some five years older and on her way to being a spinster at the age of twenty-six.

"But, dear brother," she opined, with a bounce in her step, "this is Kerremand and there are very many dragons." Her lantern swung back and forth jauntily. She seemed not the least bit afraid, though she probably should've been. "Most are toads, and you won't scare me, Iola." He pursed his lips in mock unamusement as they reached the bottom.

"Well, I'm scared," she admitted. "No Gift is..." The tall rangy woman shuddered and slipped in behind her burly brother. "Psh. You're no mage anyway," he retorted.

"And you are?" She waves dismissively. "We have enough to sense."

Isacco did not respond, however, and she tilted her head quizzically. He pointed in the direction of the depot. "Did we leave it like that?"

She pursed her lips and thought. "There's no 'we' in this one, Isac."

"I'm serious. I remember locking it. Has anyone else been here?"

She shook her head, swinging the lantern about with growing anxiety. She swallowed. "You need to go investigate."

"We need to," He rejoined, "Or would you rather be alone?"

"Fair." She cleared her throat and then, first in Revidian, and then in Avincian, called out.

"Anyone there? It's Iolanda and Isacco! It's our shift! ...hello?"

An arrival, by chance, between shifts—could she have been so lucky? Xiuyang paid their banter little mind beyond the fact that they'd noticed the unlocked gate as she intended while descending down the narrower tunnel she'd passed up before. She would offer no response to their call.

She'd just taken another careful step when something the girl had said caught up to her. "No Gift is..." what? As in no amount of Gift could offer protection from those dragons she was so worried about? Or as in more than sensing was suppressed here?

If she was unable to use the Gift, it might be better to take what may be her only opportunity to escape. Xiuyang attempted to create a small sonic bubble around her free hand and rub her fingers together near her ear, just to see if she could. Just as she began to try drawing from the dust and moisture in the air, another worry welled up inside. <Marci?>

The narrower of the two routes led, as expected, deeper into a mine. There was a branch running off perpendicular to it after about fifty yards. Otherwise, the track continued into the depths of the rock face. When Xiuyang cast about, ever alert and observant, there were clear signs of phased construction and an earlier tunnel collapse.

If she could not feel the magnetism with her Gift, the static electricity that permeated the air was everywhere, and it was... warmer than she supposed a mine shaft ought to have been. The tips of her hair seemed to want to float just above her head, and an absent brush against a filthy mine cart sent a shock through her body that caused actual significant pain, if only momentarily.

Then, came the voices from up the tunnel, and silence from Marceline, who had to just be occupied with something else, right? There were only so many simultaneous tasks a person could manage. The words of one Iolanda stuck in Xiuyang's head, however, and rested high and uneasy atop her stomach. Perhaps that was why she felt compelled to run her experiment. No dice. She was even more completely cut off from the Gift here as she had been in the Abyssal Forge.

She walked just a bit further, anxiety building, and tried a second time, only to be met with a second failure, but there was... no, there had definitely been a hint of something. She had definitely felt the sound dampened.

It was at that moment, as she was considering, that she heard a distinct skittering of rocks somewhere up ahead, echoing unmistakably up the darkened tunnel.

A partial success, perhaps, but not a promising one. It could have been her proximity to the room with the hum back in the depot—that was what her experience in the Forge led her to believe. The further she descended from it, the more its effect might wear off. On the other hand, she could douse her lantern now and retreat to the surface easily while the Revidians searched the depot. So long as she continued to ascend, she'd know she was on the right track. If she proceeded any further, she lost her only means of preventing herself from getting lost, and her only reliable chance to make an exit.

As these thoughts crowded her mind as if trying to create a fog, the sound of disturbed rocks pierced through. Instinctively, she placed her lantern on the ground and retreated backwards into the dark tunnel from where she'd come, and waited. It could be a person. It might be a predator. It may have also been nothing at all. This is why I hate caves, Xiuyang decided as she held her ground for a moment, eyes focused on the darkness, as if by doing so she could extract more information from it.

Then, all at once, Marceline was back! <One. More. Xiuyang. Dead. Ahead. Forbidden. Magic. Watch. Out.> It was not good news, but it was not all bad either. That meant that the disruption must've lessened up ahead.

Xiuyang had gotten some sense of the place: it was warmer than it should've been, it seemed to be moving west, if she hadn't lost her bearings, and the air was positively chargedwith static electricity. There was, further, a faint unpleasant smell that she could not quite place. Wait. She thought again. Sulfur. It was sulfur.

But there was someone up ahead. Dimly, she could make out what seemed to be... Was it? Dark magic. That was what it felt like. It was rare and distinct enough that she could usually pick it out. Someone or something was using dark magic.

The voice was a whisper.

"Someone..." She missed the next bit. "Shouldn't be... like this."

Another voice: deep and indistinct. She could not decipher its words, but she caught some of the response: "...command, Freiherr." Those same steps began moving towards her.

Xiuyang had enough experience with dark magic to recognize it, and also to fear and respect it. She still had nightmares of helplessly drifting in the VOID during the Trials—still remembered how powerless she felt as she watched Dorothea toy with the dead. While she had gained RAS, experience, and courage, her ability to combat this magic had truly not changed much. A little voice told her she was still a coward, that her nature had not changed at all. What stood before her now was demonic. She should kill it now and prove that she had become something.

She ignored the voice.

The smell of sulfur only added to the long list of potential dangers that may be in front of her. Above all, however, she had clearly heard two distinct voices, despite Marci seemingly only detecting one. If he could hide one from Marci, the dark mage could be concealing any number of unseen foes. The battle lines of where the Gift could or could not be used were invisible, and the source of the disruption was still unclear.

She had made a miscalculation. The Revidians were not sloppy. They were confident. It didn't matter if they were found out. They had their heels quite dug into this place, and the dispatch of Ersand'Enise's best and brightest was well warranted. <Aborting.> she replied, without explanation.

She slunk back further into the darkness—slowly at first, so as not to make a sound more than what was necessary—into the dead zone where, at least if she faced an enemy without the Gift, she had one card to play that no human could possibly predict. She did not want to use it. Marci was watching. But if she did need to, she would bolt on four legs.

From Marceline came... nothing. It was unlikely that she did not care, so she had to have been distracted by something. Just what that was lay beyond Xiuyang's scope. Now, the voice drew nearer. "Freiherr, there's a light!" It was female and raspy and had a quality to it that seemed distinctly inhuman.

Xiuyang was not silent. She was, to her own senses, obnoxiously loud in her attempt to flee, but she was quick, at least. It was more or less a matter of retracing her steps. Then, after a moment, in the distance, she spotted the small locus of light that was her lantern moving. There was a figure holding it, but it was difficult to make out unless she got closer. "Fritz? Fritz, should I go after her?"

That, or escape.

<Freiherr. Fritz. Iola. Isac.> Xiuyang pinched out the names quickly. She was here to investigate, not go in guns blazing when she had no guns. She had also been spotted, somehow, since her pursuer knew her to be female. She seemed inhuman, too, and perhaps that was why. Her opponents had every advantage. It was time to leave.

Xiuyang didn't wait for Fritz to offer an answer. She quickened her pace, retreating from the light, unraveled the inferno blanket wrapped around her shoulders and tied it around her waist. Her back and shoulders... unfolded, and she tore a path up the mine tracks with inhuman speed, blindly rushing into the darkness ahead. She only had to ensure that she was going uphill the whole way, and she would find the exit.

It took a moment, but the tethered replied this time. <Again. Question.>

Whether or not Xiuyang actually had the time and wherewithal to respond was a matter up for debate, as she tore her way out of there. By the time that she was slowing down again, she was at the narrow passage into the shed and her magic had been present, gone, and was now hazily returning.

Pushing open the door, she found it cold and windy outside. Great flowing rivers of heavy, anvil-shaped clouds hung low overhead, bellies crackling with barely-restrained violence. The brief thaw had come to an end as warm and cold fronts collided. She also remained in the middle of a remote area, with Oraff now giving way to Eshiran. Was what she had learned worth it?

The cold was a shock, and she had the inferno blanket back where it was in short order. She was an uncomfortable blend of freezing and sweaty, but she had names and the location of their base of operations, as well as some of its contents, though it surely wasn't everything. <Freiherr. Fritz. Iola. Isac.> she repeated. <Heard. Names. All. Involved. Powerful. Weapons. Here. Big. Magnetic. Machine. Magic. Dead. Zone. Am. In. Over. My. Head. Aborting.> she pinched furiously as she fled on foot in the direction she'd arrived from, giving the marsh she'd turned into a pond earlier a wide berth.

<Stay. Safe. Suunei. And. Thank. You.> came the reply. <Thank. You.> Then, a pause. <In. A. Bit. Deep. At. The. Cathedral. Myself. | Ended. Up. Trusting. Edith. With. The. Information.>

There was a pause. It took a moment for Xiuyang to realize why Marci had thanked her twice. Ah. Without thinking, I... She shook it off, both mentally and physically. Dark magic, an inhuman-seeming woman, and the smell of sulfur, associated with demons. She had told all on instinct. It wasn't her fault. That was what she told herself as she continued to run, basking in the return of her Gift. Just before reaching the edge of the woods, she would remove her mask. Someone involved had seen it, and she didn't want to scare the locals. The mask was a little eerie-looking.

She didn't question Marci's choice, or if she did, at least not openly. <You. Need. Backup. Question. Or. I. Inspect. Bodies. Question.>

<If. Anything. We. Have. Too. Many. Chefs. In. This. Kitchen.> came the reply, for such was the tethered's fluency in pinch language that she could speak in idioms. <I. Told. Edith. About. The. Bodies. But. I'm. Still. Not. Sure. We. Can. Trust. Her. Though. Roslyn. Seems. To. Be. | Get. There. First. | I. Think. We. Need. To. Be. First. On. The. Scene. And. Gather. Clues. | Then. We. Watch. Whatever. The. Authorities. Do.> There was a brief pause. <Very. Closely.>

After that, came a second pause. <Oh. How. Is. The Weather. Question. | It. Looked. Like. A. Storm. Was. Coming. Last. Time. I. Was. Outside.>

<Agreed.> Xiuyang replied to her assessment, once again breaking out into a sprint, assisted by the Gift and her kinetic boots. <Weather. Foul. Just. Realized. Bodies. Might. Wash. Away. Soon.>

Finally, she removed her left hand from her wrist and dedicated every muscle to running as fast as she could, just as Sectoxomactex had taught her, just as she had practiced regularly whenever she had found the time—never as often as she may have liked, but often enough not to stumble on uneven dirt trails, or to forget to breathe.

In, out, in, out, like a mantra. She flew in the opposite direction she had walked leisurely, her mind clear and focused on the mission. The pleasant scenery now billowed in the threatening winds. If Vyshta did not favor Lindenholdt today, she imagined these conditions could even become deadly.

<East. Bank. About. One. Point. Five. Kilometers. From. The. Edge. Of. Town. Right. By. The. River. Side.> came a message from Marceline. <I. Skidded. In. The. Muddy. Dirt. There. | It. Should. Be. Easy. To. See. | The. Other. Guy. Is. 500. Meters. Downstream. | We. Didn't. Actually. See. Him. | If. You. Need.> The message cut off. <Need. To. Go. | This. Bitch. Is. Disrespecting. Me.>

With that final, cryptic message, Xiuyang was on her own. The increasingly foreboding scenery flashed by and she hurtled through the boggy land, and then open fields, finally reaching the small dirt road that followed the winding east bank of the River Althern. Birds hunkered in their nests, distant windows were shuttered, and tree branches swayed violently in the frigid wind. Those great anvil shaped clouds agglomerated directly overhead, bellies crackling with thunder that reverberated across the open land. It was Eshiran's wrath made manifest.

Then, just as the first flakes of snow howled through the roadside brush, Xiuyang found them: Marceline's distinctive tracks, where they had met with mud an hour or two earlier. According to her friend, she need only follow those, but she was very much alone out here and the weather was getting ugly... fast.

Xiuyang laughed at the very Marci-like comment. She might have expected to see some scavenging birds circling overhead, but the avian pestilence proved smarter than the human who decided to go out for a stroll on a day like this. Her only clue was the tracks in the mud. She followed them, hardly expecting to meet any threats given the state of the weather.

Was she really going to drag two old defrosted corpses all the way back to town in a situation like this, though? After all, not anyone would just open their doors to some foreigner for shelter, especially not one with a dead man on each shoulder. No, I just have to drag one 500 meters to the other. If the weather turns deadly, I'll just have to shelter in place, she decided. As she turned toward the riverbank, she braced herself for an awful sight.

Ernst Zimmerman lay there: his flesh rotted and ice-encrusted, picked at by all manner of scavengers, but the distinctive haureenium ring he has always worn was still on his finger, and most of his clothes were still intact. Xiuyang had, unfortunately, seen more than her share of dead people in her young life, but this was a particularly ghastly sight, for some reason.

Weber, she remembered, was supposed to be about half a kilometer north and downstream. She had already considered moving the bodies so that they were near each other, but took a moment to poke around.

There was nothing to be gained from studying positioning, since the cadaver had washed down a river anyhow, but she could at least look for the telltale signs of a struggle and likely cause of death.

He hadn't drowned while conscious, or there would've been evidence of an attempt to break through and clamber up onto the ice. In fact, there seemed to be no sighs of a physical struggle. That did not mean, however, that there were no injuries. There were strange branching markings along the skin and, on the body's chest, weird pit-like.... were those burns? Finally, as she went to look at Ernst's remaining eye (for the other had been taken by birds), she noticed a foamy reddish substance frozen in the nostrils.

The investigation did not last very much longer, however, for she then picked up something else: the clatter of a wagon's wheels coming rapidly from the north.

Xiuyang exhaled. Waterlogged cadavers were always worse. "It's not what I wanted to see, but it is what I needed," she remarked as she observed what she believed were the telltale signs of death by blitzwerfer. "Shit." As she heard the wagon approach, she retrieved a pair of tweezers from her med kit and extracted a sample of the unknown substance from the man's nose for safekeeping. Then, she dragged the body to the edge of the dirt path and began flagging down the wagon. What else was she to do—hide, as though she had done the deed herself? It was better this way. Both men could get proper burials. She already had what she needed.

It was a medium-sized covered wagon pulled by a single great shaggy horse of Eskandish breeding. The woman who hunkered by the reins, head turning this way and that anxiously as she coaxed some speed out of the slow-moving vehicle was, most likely, an itinerant merchant.

There was a distinct nervousness to her bearing and she seemed disinclined to stop. In fact, after slowing only briefly and slightly, she began to pick up speed as she started her closest approach.

Xiuyang's eyes flicked to the dead man at her feet, still only semi-hidden by the foliage. "Fair enough," she remarked as the woman fled. Xiuyang probably would have done the same, cynical as she was. Perhaps it was a case of sour grapes, but she began to doubt her ability to talk to a local in any event. She'd really hoped the wagon had been someone with authority, who spoke Avincian.

Once the wagon had passed, she began to exercise her Gift on the earth, digging a hole to preserve the body. "This will not be your final resting place, so don't get mad and haunt me when I dig you up later, alright?" After binding a cloth to cover the man using some reeds, she buried him and took off running to the north, where the wagon had been fleeing from. Her desire to secure both bodies compelled her to imagine a scenario where she could carry a body half a kilometer, but given time to consider it, she could not be expected to do that. She couldn't be sure if Edith was coming in this weather, so this was her next best option.

She breathed in, out, in, out. Trying to estimate by feeling, she ran what she thought was a little less than half of her usual route, which would be close to half a kilometer. Then she began to sense around, hoping to find it. <Am. I. Close. Question.> she tried.

The wagon passed, its rear gate partially open and held half-closed by some rope. Xiuyang made quick work of covering the body before heading north. She was, in fact, starting to scan only three minutes after leaving the late Herr Zimmerman behind.

Her first attempt to be noticed by Marceline was a miss - the tethered wasn't currently scanning - and the second failed too, as she continued to jog into the teeth of a budding thundersnow. Third time lucky. <One. Moment. Scanning. | How. Is. The. Weather. Question.>

It took the Kerreman about half a minute before she was ready to respond, during which time, she learned just what it was like outside. <Good. News. And. Bad. News. | I. Will. Give. You. The. Bad. First. | The. Body. Is. Not. There. Anymore. | Unless. I'm. Sensing. Wrong. It. Is. Headed. South. Along. The. Road. At. A. Fast. Jog. | Actually.> There was a momentary pause. <It. Should. Have. Passed. You. A. Few. Minutes. Ago. | Huh. Weird. | Have. You. Seen. Anyone. Question.>

At first, Xiuyang felt a sudden panic, thinking the man she'd buried had just vanished—dark magic on the brain, she supposed. The realization that the wagon held the other body was only half as unexpected as it should have been. Someone—who was not Edith—had been sent to recover the bodies, and that person had avoided Xiuyang on sight alone. <Not. Good. They. Didn't. Stop. Afraid.> She decided to say nothing of how the person in the wagon might have seen her with the body, and that she might have fled because of that. Xiuyang began to wonder if the person in the wagon was more afraid of being caught with one herself.

She turned around and ran, faster now, in the opposite direction. She wasn't sure if she was in pursuit of the wagon, or simply trying to get back to civilization. She only knew she had to get somewhere fast. <What. Is. Good. News. Exactly. Question.>

<Good. News. Is. That. We. Know. Where. It. Is. Question. Angel. Face. Question.>

Whatever humorous - or not - response that might've come next, it came within the context of Xiuyang sprinting after a wagon in the midst of a thundersnow. Mr. Secto would've been proud. The wagon hove into her sensing range after a few minutes and, then, into intermittent audiovisual range a good deal later, for such were the conditions now. The inferno blanket, almost an afterthought when it had come into her possession, was now - quite possibly literally - a lifesaver.

Xiuyang was able to reach the back of the wagon and there was, indeed something covered with a thick burlap sheet that could only be a cadaver inside of it. A few more kinetically-enhanced steps would carry her to the front, where the driver was. The question became: which approach to take?

Regardless if her reasons were innocent or not, the driver was afraid of her, and startling her would do neither of them any good. The only good outcomes in this situation required the driver to keep moving. If they were not on the same side, they were, for better or worse, in this shit together.

Opting not to announce herself, she used the Gift to hurl herself forward and grab on to the partly opened gate, under the cover of a strategic sonic bubble—not that the driver was likely to hear her over the increasingly loud storm, in any case. Holding on to the top of the gates, using the Gift to loosen the rope a little, she attempted to squeeze through the gap without letting the gate open far enough to risk losing its cargo, or close around her while she was wedged in it.

If she was freezing, her blanket worn as a shawl kept her warm enough to stay focused. It helped that her arm muscles were exerting themselves to the point they felt like they were on fire, and her legs weren't much better off.

After a few hair-raising moments, Xiuyang found herself in the back of the wagon, a little bit of rocking aside. It had not been enough - or so she believed, for the woman up front to have noticed, not with all of the other bumps on the road.

Inside lay the body of Florian Weber, in a condition similar to that of his workmate. No signs of struggle, but the same branching burns, pitted scars, and traces of reddish foam in the nose. It was almost as if he had died while unconscious or... conscious but not struggling? A willing sacrifice?

In any case, the wagon continued to bump and clatter rapidly down the road, and it was now entering the outskirts of Lindenholdt. Its driver glanced around nervously and then, after a particularly large bump, right back through the screen that separated the rear from the driver's perch.

"Eyes on the road, belladonna," Xiuyang offered with an innocent smile and a handwave with finger-wiggles, as if she had been picked up and been sitting quietly there the entire time. "Poor day for a stroll, innit?"

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

A flash of... anger? Resentment? Evil Eye couldn't place it precisely enough for her liking before her eyes and body were covered and restrained, a position from which she could truthfully do very little, even if her heart were not also being subdued. It was proof that, for as poorly as she understood her partner's capabilities, Oros understood hers perfectly. It was proof that, much as she wished to do more, she knew Shatterscape was right. She was the one who required supervision. She belonged in the air, free as a bird, away from danger. Why, then, did her heart desire anything else other than what her mediocre skills lent her to? Ah, well... Acceptance didn't wash over her so much as it consumed her. In my next life, then. But whatever it was Evil Eye expected Oros to do, she didn't.

For a moment, she remained there, her body half slumped over. "Right. Try not to mistake me for... someone you hate," she replied half-heartedly. This feeling... she knew it well. It was the sting of failure. A part of her began to wonder just how long she could stay there, pretending she was still under Oros's spell, before anyone would notice and think it'd been a bit too long. For a moment, she did remain there, and just listened. Slowly, she processed that Tsubomi was going to be okay, and Suki was going to be okay, and the light girls were going to just... walk off into the sunset, as one did. How very convenient for them. How very glamorous, how picturesque. None of them would try a move against Nocnitsa, not when the cost of a loss against her was a stain on their glorious reputation as indomitable heroes of light, or whatever. As for Evil Eye, there was only ever one thing to do when she felt left behind—when her mood turned most foul—and that was to harvest more miseria.

"...All this excitement's going to rouse up more miseria. I'll mop them up before they turn into something nasty," she said to no one in particular. Then, she took off upwards, about a story higher than the rooftops, and began to create a bunch of winged, hooded fairies wielding little scythes. True to what she'd said, they began to mow down the nearby stragglers before flying a bit further off, accompanied by Mogall, retracing the steps of their chase with Diamond—in particular, toward the place that had baked under the gaze of the Titan. Ah. I lost a meeting with the new girl in town, too, she realized, as her mind flipped through the images transmitted to her.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

Evil Eye beheld Oros, soaking in her blood and the absurdity of the situation. If she doesn't snap out of her 'happiness' soon, she's going to bleed dry. Though she had little in the way of fact to base it on, she got the impression that while her sister-in-arms was looking at her, she was weeping over somebody else. She stopped to consider, briefly, whether or not saying something would make this spell she was under better or worse—but only briefly. "...Sounds like a date. First I need you to not die, though." Looking over the pool of blood and imagining that this really could be the last time she spoke to Oros—something that was, despite being desensitized to this sort of scene, not particularly difficult—she managed to shed a tear or three to produce some pint-sized cotton devils to soak up the blood. She couldn't be sure if this would indeed actually help the blood witch, but Evil Eye was never content to sit and wait for a situation to improve on its own. "Looking a bit light on fluids, Oros. Pull yourself together. Eyes up here," she tried. If the wannabe cupid had put her under a spell of lovesickness, Evil Eye figured she could counter it with some hypnotism of her own. If Oros looked at her now, she would see the patient smile of a sister who always gave second chances, if only she'll get up and fight again.

That was when the approaching presence made itself known. The first welcome realization was that it wasn't a light girl. The second was that it wasn't Rei, here to chide them all again for not begging for help at the first sign of trouble, nor was it Ashbringer, here to make their clusterfuck even more complicated. The third was that she had already made herself plenty useful and brought some sense of order with her—and with that came the first unwelcome realization: this woman was a role model of just the sort of dark magical girl Evil Eye aspired to be. A usurper, if I'm not cautious, she counseled herself. "Well, thank you. Do you know what's happening to her, then?" she tried to ask the woman before she vanished again, leaving Evil Eye talking to herself. She sighed. Tsubomi rarely asks for anything. And the moment we listen, this is what happens...

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

The cotton candy cart crashed into an invisible presence—a familiar-looking invisible presence that had, as it were, been lying in wait to snatch Tsubomi, or Kiyo had Diamond allowed her to plummet toward the pavement. Instead, the seemingly unstoppable girl's batting average continued to climb as she thwarted another of Evil Eye's schemes entirely by accident, the only upside being that, aside from her pride, she was unharmed.

The utterly silent doppelganger of Evil Eye began digging into the cotton candy looking for its master. When it found what it was looking for and pulled her out, a merciless hand clamped around its neck. "Useless!! You're both so utterly USELESS!!" Evil Eye shrieked as she shoved the fake's face into the fluffy pillow of sugar. Her eyes were empty wells of infinite black, until she caused both of her creations to dissolve into black sludge, then a black fog, and then into nothing. Only once they were gone did the crimson glow of her twitching, furious eyes return.

The seething hatred only grew as she realized what Topaz was about to do, and that she would be too slow to make a difference in stopping it. Her kitchen had been taken over by an abundance of chefs, most of whom could trample her if they wanted. Yet that wasn't all: a powerful magic presence was approaching, and Evil Eye could only think of two magical girls that could make that kind of impression. Neither of them were people she wanted to meet while both of her assigned partners were in this condition. Neither did she know what Topaz's arrows were doing to Oros, nor did she particularly care. If a light girl was doing it, it was probably designed to do something worse to a dark girl than whatever damage Evil Eye was about to cause to Oros's body by taking them out.

She floated over to Oros's position, leaving Earthshaker and the others to engage anyone who tried to intervene. Flail as she might, each time with increasing ire, she couldn't quite rid herself entirely of the cotton candy, which only worsened the scowl on her face. Muttering bitterly to herself, she began the somewhat gruesome task of trying to pull the arrows out of Oros. "I'll be... ...fore I let some... ...nap my... ...will you?"

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

"I'll be the one to call balls and strikes. Batter up, bitch!"

---

So stubborn! What the hell do you want with her?!

Diamond wasn't backing down. She wasn't dropping Tsubomi and fleeing. The only cold comfort was that so far she wasn't using her like one would expect a hostage to be used, either. Her only goal seemed to be to lose the Mogall's line of sight. At least, if she had a destination in mind, Evil Eye lacked the information to take a guess at it, and as the rest of the Club got desperate, so did she.

The 13-Eye-Titan instinctively reached for Hizuki, trying to stop her runaway flight, but after missing two or three times came to the conclusion that this task was beyond the abilities its creator had given it. It diverted its attention back to Diamond, trailing behind Oros. The great eye closed, and it seemed to gradually disappear in a heat haze, cloaking itself as it had done before within the midst of the smaller Mogall. What advantage it hoped to gain from this while its position was still roughly marked by the swarm defending it remained to be seen.

Wait for me, Tsubomi. I have one more card to play.

This one is going to work. No light girl can resist.

---

As Diamond approached the next major intersection, a nefarious sight would greet her. Evil Eye had descended from the cloud of eyes high above. Some of them accompanied her, struggling together to carry the weight of a schoolgirl, holding her several stories high. She wore the uniform of Hibusa High, and had long black hair—but that described just about every high school girl in Japan. It would be hard to tell from the ground if it was someone the Club knew. Even so, just how far was she willing to go?

One of the Mogall let go of the girl's arm, and it dropped unceremoniously, pointing straight toward the pavement. The girl was not struggling, and likely unconscious. Evil Eye wore a sinister smirk. The threat was unspoken and obvious. If Evil Eye allowed the Mogall to drop this girl, Diamond would have to let go of Tsubomi to catch her.

Two can play this game.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

For Evil Eye, there was nothing to be done but to keep flying. Other things were happening elsewhere, and some of those things were unprecedented, but her one good eye was keeping watch for another hail of arrows while the other engaged Diamond, intent on rescuing Tsubomi. She could only engage with her top priority so long as she continued to be preoccupied with combat. The Club was scattered like mice, and the GEMs were obviously both more coordinated than them and more coordinated than a typical light girl team. Why did she leave Tsubomi alone? What could ever make her think that would be fine?

Being able to see everything is kinda creepy, Aisha. You need to let people have some space.

Be quiet. You're dead to me. If I was there, I could have done more. I should have.

Tsubomi... never called me a voyeur. She never told me to fuck off.

If she had just been there... If nothing else, she wouldn't have to worry about becoming the next target of Rei's ire and Suki's disappointment—because she would have died before letting the GEMs take one of them alive, and even most dark girls had enough courtesy to not speak ill of the dead. If nothing else, she could have poured all of her power into this newest creation instead of keeping half for a potential face-off against the frog girl. Just how strong did she think she was, anyway? Hadn't she got it through her thick skull yet that she was too weak to protect anyone? And because of her weakness, she had to show blind trust to a light girl who took pity on dark girls. Pathetic—like an overfunded, underperforming scientist seeking companionship from a lab rat.

I won't let this happen.

Delusional. Prideful. A part of her had surely known this could happen. Tsubomi had been targeted before. It was like they knew that she was vulnerable, and that made her the perfect bait. Her trap had been sprung perfectly, but she never expected the girl to just take her and run. She'd known that it could happen, but was too proud to think that it would. As always, there had been an unforeseen factor. Something had escaped the notice of the 'all-seeing eye' of the Detention Club.

No! It's true that I wanted the GEMs to make a reckless move, but I didn't use Tsubomi like that. I'm not so cruel.

But that was a lie. Evil Eye was a ruthless girl, and she could not help but scheme, and scheme dangerously.

I can't... think about this right now. I have to hurry.

---

The 13-Eyed Titan became swarmed with Mogall. They attached to it, replacing the eyes that had perished, and it once again began to speed up. The smaller eyes were more than simple turrets; they were propelling it along as it levitated through the air, and now that it had recovered its speed, it began to use its tendrils to lift itself up into the air, intent on overtaking the cart and planting its body in front of Diamond. If it were allowed to succeed in gaining ground over Diamond, the tendrils on its backside would be poised to reach out and seize the cart. Unlike Hizuki, it seemed that Evil Eye was no longer interested in trying to persuade the GEMs to back down peacefully.

Kurai Majokko: Tsundere Gekido

Evil Eye turned to regard Hizuki, opening her mouth as if to say something. She had surely watched over Hibusa Town long enough to know all of the street names and landmarks, but she wasn't sure how much Hizuki would have learned by now. "It's close to the..." she began, but bit her lip, breathing unsteadily. "...Here. Just touch this, and you'll see her." She adjusted her kimono, lowering it to reveal the Udjat eye tattoo at the base of her neck. "And don't tell a soul I showed you where it is," she emphasized vehemently.

Hibusa Town almost didn't look real through the eye of the titan. Such was its size, it was as if someone had built a miniature set of the town so it could be destroyed with practical effects for a budget disaster movie. Though it looked like a fake town, the one thing reminding both girls that what they were seeing was real was Diamond, carrying Acid Drop on her back—and the field of view given to Hizuki offered more meaningful information at a glance than Evil Eye could've rattled off with the proverbial 'thousand words.' "I'm not trying to hit her, just cut off the alleys—but pretty soon she's going to—

figure that out." Evil Eye never finished her sentence.

"Aargh!" she cried as the rain of arrows fell upon the titan, as if she had felt it. No, not 'as if,' she had definitely reacted in pain. "There!" Evil Eye pushed Hizuki's hand away, pointing her in the general direction of the intersection. "She turned left! GO!!" she urged, shoving her forward. "Bring her back," Evil Eye demanded through grit teeth as more abyssal tears flowed down her cheeks and fell to the street below, spawning more creatures. "please," she muttered, unheard by anyone.

---

The arrows made contact with the side of the titan, bursting a few of the lesser eyes hanging from its underside, bringing their laser fire to an abrupt end. The rest made contact with the main body, creating a crackling cacophony like that of hailstones crashing into a windshield. Some stuck into the eyelid, but did not remain there for long as the creature blinked irritably. Enraged and full of bloody tears, it continued to pursue Diamond. Tendrils reached out for anything they could grasp, pulling and propelling the great eye forward. It was no longer steadily keeping pace with the magical girl. The mysterious unseen force propelling it forward had been slowed, somehow, but every so often it compromised with a sudden burst of forward momentum using its tendrils, staying hot on Diamond's heels but never quite within reach. The sky full of Mogall were also steadily closing in on its position, an unknown purpose in mind.