The muscles of everyone present were taut and ready to strike at the first sign of trouble. No one moved, no one blinked, Sarah had to remind herself to breath as she watched the cocoon begin to disintegrate.
Tobias's mind was moving at a million miles a minute. "Why would the seal disintegrate now? there is no way that a magic of such a high level would be so weak, right? Maybe the creature was too strong for it?" Tobias threw out that thought immediately. No matter how strong it was, ultimately, they had managed to subdue it, so there's no way it could break through such a seal.
As more of the being's body was becoming exposed, everyone noticed that the cuts and injuries the being sustained seemed to have disappeared. Not even the color of scarring could be seen along its flesh.
"Maybe…" Tobias's mind was in a storm of thought.
Everyone stared at the being, waiting for the light from the spell to disappear completely. No one was sure what to expect, but they were prepared for the worst.
The light dimmed, and they could now see the full form of its body. Everyone's eyes narrowed in thought when they saw his arm. The arm which Tobias had sheared from its form seemed to have grown back.
They stared at the being who laid unmoving on the ground. Suddenly its eyelids twitched. The delicate motion did not go unnoticed. With barely any exertion Sarah extended her spirit weapon from her hand, binding the being to the earth with crossing chains that dug into the stone and its flesh.
Tobias said nothing, but he felt uneasy. There was something about the being that seemed different. Tobias was sure that it was coming to consciousness, but instead of lashing out it seemed to be confused. The aura that pervaded it during their initial encounter was nowhere to be felt.
"Maybe it wasn't a seal at all!" Tobias's eyes stared at the face of the being. Noone's eyes opened while his body relaxed into the binding chains. Everyone noticed the change immediately, and the seniors were left perplexed.
Noone's eyes were no longer red with blood. When the three seniors laid eyes on them before, their very cores were chilled by the fiendish aura given off from the being. Now though, even Tobias could not sense any of the cruelty he had felt a month ago.
Instead of blood red cruelty, Noone's eyes were not very different from their own. The pupils seemed to be impossibly dark, and his irises were grey as though merely existing to separate the darks of his eyes from the whites.
Sarah, who was binding him down felt odd that it wasn't resisting. She didn't drop her guard but when she looked into the being's eyes, she couldn't help but notice it gave off a completely different sensation than before. However, her fear of it from their experience a month ago was still fresh in her mind.
Tobias still held his battle axe a few feet above the being's head. He didn't want to be rash, but he wouldn't give it a chance to rally into battle again.
Noone's lips parted and everyone tensed. Sarah tightened the chain around his neck choking it as tight as she could. Sally began to cast a protection miracle to ward against another shockwave.
Instead of a radial blast of pressure though, everyone heard the vague sounds of speech which were spoken hoarsely from its lips.
Both Feylins' and Sarah's eyes widened in shock, her concentration on the spell shook but she managed to maintain it in time, tightening the summoned chains around Noone's body.
Raelith, Sally and Tobias were able to adapt to the change much quicker than the two acolytes. In their long lives what weird occurrences have they not seen? There could be any number of explanations to the sudden difference.
This included, of course, that maybe it was faking its coherence. Knowing that it had no way of resisting, it could be mimicking a regular human psyche trying to lure them into dropping their guard.
Despite not understanding what it had said, they didn't think it was some monster in human-like skin.
"What do you think Raelith?" Tobias asked. Although he was a higher level of power and status within the order than her, he knew she had outlived him three times over. He trusted her instinct.
"I hate to say it in case I am wrong, but I think this may be its true state and the devilish nature we felt earlier has been suppressed." A deep frown crossed her expression, if she was wrong it would be trouble. But her instinct had never betrayed her before.
"What makes you think this is its normal state?" Feylin couldn't help but ask. Thoughts of seeing his friend and seniors brutalized during the battle a month prior flashed through his mind. Even if he had to admit that it gave off a different feeling… but who could be sure it was over?
Raelith pointed at the being's chest. Hanging around his neck was a pendant in the shape of a moon with thousands of hair-thin engravings on it. At the center of the moon was a pearl-like stone which was colored black with white specks peppered across it. It was the same color as the cocoon which the being had been trapped inside.
"I may be wrong… but the necklace we were given from the grand-priest seemed to have caused the change in nature. I believe he may have been possessed, and the necklace was a tool utilized to suppress it." Raelith was exceedingly familiar with ancient runes and rituals. She had never seen one like the cocoon before, but she could definitely spot the similarities.
Tobias nodded in response while everyone listened intently, hoping to learn something from Raelith. No one took their eyes off the being.
By this point he had become completely conscious while laying chained to the floor. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking while his eyes looked around at the group surrounding him.
"xxxx xxx xxx" It made more noises, distinctly reminiscent of speech. Everyone took notice that it was making no move to fight back, instead it almost seemed… scared? Confused? No one was sure. Its expression was strangely neutral despite the situation.
"Tobias do you have any guess as to what that language is?" Sally asked. She was probably the most on edge apart from the acolytes, a part of her was considering ending this right now – just to ensure their safety.
"Not a clue. I am far from an expert, but from what I know... no language sounds like that." Tobias's eyebrows scrunched together. The common world was home to dozens of races and an exponential more languages. To be able to know all of them would be a fool's dream. However, after living through a few decades many people become aware of most of them.
"Rae?" He looked over, hoping she would have some insight about this.
"I don't know either…" She stared at the being, her eyes gradually changing from tense aggression into idle curiosity. She had come to the conclusion that this thing was most likely not dangerous anymore. Or at least not as wildly aggressive.
Sarah and Feylin both waited patiently. They knew that with their nonexistent experience, they had nothing to offer to the group of seniors.
"I can only hold these chains for a few minutes before I exhaust myself." Sarah gently reminded.
Noone's eyes tracked to her when she spoke, making her feel slightly awkward. She couldn't help but feel his eyes looked very… Human. In fact, everyone had begun to get that same feeling.
"Can you understand me?" Tobias said, he spoke in the common tongue. Noone looked directly at him.
"XxxX Xxx xxxx XxXxxx" It began to speak with urgency at the man with the large axe held above his head. Tobias had no clue what the being had said but could guess well enough by the frantic eye movement between himself and the axe.
"Sarah." His deep voice rumbled. "Remove the chains."
She looked at Tobias for a moment, making eye contact to be sure she heard him correctly. When she saw the resolution on his face, she didn't hesitate to recall her spell.
Gradually the chains around the being faded.
A few moments passed and no one moved. The air was tense like a fuse just on the edge of igniting.
The being sat up slowly, carefully watching the people around him who were holding weapons towards him… then again, he couldn't blame them. His memory of their first encounter was still clear in his mind.