He could not ignore the feeling of dread in his heart, beating so much faster than before.
He squashed the ball in his hand, forcing a large gust of haze to surround and cover the entire street within a 10 km radius. The haze was thick, so much so that it was hard to see what was in front of him. Amelia understood what he was doing, though she continued to smirk. It hid him away from her view, nonetheless it could not hide the sounds of his feet.
He ran around where she was standing, until he reached where he intended to.
It hid his presence enough that it was hard to feel exactly where he was. He used the chance to attempt a stab through her throat. His dagger slicing through it with such force that dragged the wind with it, forcing some of it to part away. She did not turn around to meet him which made him believe that his sneak attack was going to hurt her.
Instead, he was met with a sniper rifle pointing point blank range at his head.
His eyes widened up as he could feel the cold steel touching his forehead. Her body did not turn around much, instead he met up with her cold yet amused gaze. Her lips maintained the smirk as she pulled the trigger, his blade inches away from grazing her skin. Fear filled his gaze, his heart began to beat frantically.
'BANG!' The gunshot was heard by many outside of the area.
He leaped away from the shot, barely dodging it with a panicked expression. His breathing staggered as the bullet nearly missed him and hit something else instead. Luckily, the fog was able to slow down the bullet enough for him to run further away from her. The adrenaline had now faded away, leaving the impending fear within him.
"What makes you think that this shit excuse of a fog can hide you from me?" Her tone blended in well with the atmosphere.
He formed some pikes from the fog, throwing it one after another at her. He breathed in heavily, trying to calm himself as he sent more and more waves of pikes at her. He could hear it hitting the ground or a wall, although was unsure exactly if any of it hit her. Though his question was quickly answered by her appearance.
None of them had hit her once.
Her body looked the same as ever, not even a single hit was inflicted on her. She placed the sniper rifle over her shoulder, smiling back at him as he threw another pike at her face. She simply walked away from it. As a form of mockery, she began humming. She kept tapping the rifle on her shoulder as she moved towards him.
"Way too slow, they aren't even that strong either."
He was starting to feel the pressure being placed on his shoulders, his body starting to shiver under it. She pointed the rifle at the attacker with one hand, while her other free hand was tucked in the pockets. She continued to smile, beginning to feel more eerie as the anxiety mounted on him.
He knew he was desperate, including the pikes he had thrown at her earlier. He did not have a choice, since he was not willing to die in her hands. He still had the will to fight as he took her head on, rushing in ahead with the dagger in his grip. She laughed at him, once again pulling the trigger.
This time, the bullet grazed his right cheek.
He had a chance, the blade was close to her wrist. He was planning on slicing the wrist off along with the sniper rifle she was holding, although he did not get such a chance to. She loosened her grip of it, only letting go once he got close. She grabbed his face, lifting him up while lightly crushing his skull.
"Hmm… pretty pathetic aren't you." She mocked him with a laugh.
He wanted to fight back, yet he couldn't. He could feel himself losing more and more energy as she continuously applied pressure on his head. He could feel parts of his head starting to bleed, his brain and nerves being squashed up into a mess.
"It does seem like you're just like everyone else. Only big talk and nothing else, unfortunate."
He tried to breathe, although now barely getting any air. He could already feel his vision fading away while his mind was trying to figure out something. He was suddenly reminded of something as a huge haze hand grabbed tightly on hers, before flinging him up in the air. Even with his blurred vision, he could see the amusement in her eyes.
"For a second I thought you forgot there were still things up your sleeves."
Her sniper rifle disintegrated into the ground as he concentrated the haze around his palm, fully clearing it away and back into a black ball. Her sword reappeared on the side of her hip as she leaped upwards while he was free falling back to the ground. He closed his eyes as he held the floating ball near his chest.
He pleaded, "Dear lord, please bless me and my soul for this once."
Amelia's sword was this close to slicing his head off when he directed it at the ball instead. She diced the ball apart, and it separated cleanly in two. Although, that was not the end of it. His heavily bruised face was healed all of the sudden as one half spreaded out and surrounded her.
"I do not believe in any Gods aside from our leader. For the sake of us, please die painfully" He said in a calm yet near monotone voice.
Darkness fully surrounded her vision as she felt sticks being stabbed into her body. It mostly targeted her left eye, left arm and right thigh. She noticed the ends of each one of them, having assigned different numbers and patterns. Though before she fell back to the ground, the attacker appeared once again, this time stabbing her through the chest.
"I think the next few will kill you."
She only smiled at his comment, "I don't die that easily, young man."
He kicked her in the stomach, giving him enough space to land back safely on the ground, their surroundings turning back to the streets. She was smashed through some of the ground, making a big enough hole for her to comfortably nestle in. She stayed there, not moving a single inch at all. He held the dagger tightly in his hands, ready for her to come at him at any point.
What he heard alarmed his very soul.
A laugh. She was laughing ridiculously loudly, so much so that even the people waiting outside of the area where the haze occupied could hear her clearly. It echoed through the town, like a bell ringing. He gripped tighter, sweat starting to form on his forehead. He had begun to worry about what was going to happen, and began to wonder what was happening.
"Oh.. you naive young man."
He jolted when he realised her voice was coming from behind him. He slowly turned around to have a look, his grip so tight that his hand was starting to bleed. Despair started to fill his mind as he noticed the sticks placed on her were still visible. She stood still, her back upright and smiling brightly, even more when she noticed his panicked state.
"I didn't think you would know something like this. If I knew you had this aptitude of magic, then I would have tried to stab you instead at the start."
Her voice was cheerful, too cheerful even that it sent chills down his spine. Even her smile was terrifying, as if something in her had been unchained. He suddenly felt blood rushing out of his nose, making him place a hand there. Blood stained his fingers as he could feel the pain in his skull, when she had tried to crush it with her bare hands.
She chuckled as she pulled out the sticks. She did not give him much of a reaction for him to tell whether or not she was in pain. Perhaps she was, perhaps she was not. Although he could deny the sight of someone pulling out a stick that was in their eye, seeing the blood ooze out of the wound, was deeply nightmarish.
She was calm, so much so that it made him wonder if she was indeed a monster, instead of a Goddess. The smile that never faded as she pulled them out, the small wounds healing up in an instant, made him wonder if she was the insane one. She hummed as she got them all out, staring at him with a semi impressed gaze.
"Too bad, this little trade of yours won't hurt me that much~"
Fear had again overcome him, yet this time, it would not go away. She simply summoned her sword, it appearing on her waist like it always would. He was unsure what to do, his body frozen on the spot as she moved closer to him. He already knew what was going to happen to him, even so, he would continue to struggle with himself.
She said as she steadily unsheathed her blade, "Would you die while continuing to struggle, or would you accept death with open arms?"
She did not want his answer, he knew that as much.
"Let's dance until you can't breathe."
One slash.
He extended his dagger out, ready to strike her. Yet, he was not given the chance to.
His body was sliced in half before he could blink, a clean and precise cut. She sheathed her blade as both halves of his body fell to the ground, blood spilling out of his corpse. The gaze in his eyes… That determination, yet pure fear, would forever be carved into his last moment. She stared at it for a moment.
"Unfortunate. If you have been on the right side, perhaps you would have another chance at a longer life."
She could feel and hear some peoples' footsteps as they got closer. She decided to burn the body and blood before they came. Her head turned to see the authorities running past with their protective gear fully on. They ran past her like how the assailant had done the same earlier. She gently picked up the dagger before the object caught their eyes.
She held it gently in her hands, staring at the red gem in the handle, "A memorabilia then."
"What…" Their stunned tone was every bit as entertaining as she had thought.
Her head tilted up slightly as she began walking away, "If you had been here even a few seconds earlier, you might have seen it be reduced to ashes. Oh well then, what a shame."
"THAT FUCK." Someone yelled in frustration.
"Now there's the money shot~" She chuckled though no one could hear anything.
She walked away from the scene, leaving them completely stunned on the spot. They were not sure what had happened as nothing was left behind, even the buildings remained untouched. Only one person knew what happened and was fuming at the thought that they could not do anything yet again.
"The living and the dead are on different playing fields after all. We can clean up everything much easier than you guys ever will." She laughed at them.
The police crew had to calm down the crowd and their men as they could not believe their eyes. They had been shown and heard gunshots, yet there was nothing left behind. Not even a corpse, or any blood. There was nothing to collect, hence there was absolutely nothing they could do.
They could only remain perplexed at the sight of it.
Clouds continued to pass by, simply minding their own business as time went by.
Concern was the first thing that ran through his mind when he saw what was on the news in the afternoon. Andrata had forced him awake in such an urgent way, which was bashing his head with a pillow or two, that he thought something horrible happened. After all, she barely, if ever, committed violence on him.
He was correct, to a certain degree.
The headline was, 'Mysterious incident gains notoriety on the web.' The reporter read out the script in their hand, "The incident alarmed many of the bystanders. Although none was injured during the entire ordeal, there was nothing to show for the incident. There are only some videos on the web showing a standoff against a woman and a man…"
Aeon could barely mutter out her name, "Amelia…"
A loud knock on the door interrupted his line of thought. He deeply groaned and changed out of his sleepwear, donning his usual attire. There was another knock on the door as they grew even more impatient. He could speed up him wearing his outfit, if they would have to wait any longer, they might bust his door down.
"Are… you going to be alright…?" Andrata's gold eyes could not hide her worried tone.
He smiled and patted her head, "I'm going to be fine."
Her eyes lingered on him as he opened the door, greeting the annoyed policemen with a polite smile.
He was unfazed by it all, simply asking, "How may I help you?"
"You're under suspicion of one count of manslaughter, please cooperate with us." They brought out the handcuffs.
He extended his arms, letting them place the cuff on him and took him to the station. She stood still as he left, giving her a reassuring smile. She could only stare at his figure disappearing from the door frame, not being able to say another word. Worry was the only thing she could feel at that moment.
"Sometimes I wonder…"
Try as she might still she just could not finish her sentence, choosing it to be hidden away.
The entire drive to the police station was tense, so much so that Aeon had to start humming to make the trip feel less suffocating. Something in their gaze informed him that they were terrified, with them glimpsing back and forth while the other kept their eyes on the road. He did not mind it as he was living in his own mind.
'Another mess she left behind. Nevertheless… it probably has something to do with them. I still don't understand her decision to let him go. Although she had been letting the rest of them get away with things here and there. The thing is… why? I know that she's been trying to piss The Council off but there are surely other ways than this one… right?' Those feelings passed through his mind as his eyes stared at the moving streets.
'I… just want to wish them safe. At this point, it might be hard to even keep them decently guarded.' He sighed deeply as the car parked into its assigned slot.
His gaze saddened as he murmured, "Why don't you ever tell me anything."
They seemed confused at his expression, since it was sudden, but they insisted on doing their job. One opened the car door while the other kept an eye on him. He slowly got back to his more stern expression as they guided him through the halls, the familiar hallway he had been to from time to time.
He was very familiar with the place since he moved faster than both of them.
The interior of it looked like any other, with a reception at the front. It was a two-storey tall building with beige and black painted on the walls. Aeon walked down the stairs which lead to the basement area where some people were being kept in small jail cells. He paid them no mind, so did the people.
They stopped in front of a steel door. He stood still waiting for them to open the door though they never got to. A man with a tied up blonde ponytail and wearing typical detective clothing shoved the door outwards in their direction, luckily he did not hit anyone. If he had, whoever the poor person was would have to suffer some bleeding for a while.
He and Aeon's eyes looked at each other, a frustrated feeling set in stone.
"Both of you are dismissed. Also, don't worry about him. I can handle him by myself." His tone was mixed despite his aura exuding with confidence.
They left quickly as he stepped into the room and sat down on the chair. The room looked like any other interrogation room. Aeon felt too at home in a place like this, no matter how much the atmosphere was starting to change. He laid his hand on the table as he noticed the documents on the men's side.
"Back here again aren't we, Aeon?" His shift in tone caused Aeon's senses to go into overdrive.
Aeon shrugged, "We are, Eldel. You seem to be… agitated today."
They suddenly went silent, causing the room to tense up significantly. Eldel grunted and shook his head, his stare turning into a glare as he placed one of his hands on the table while the other on his forehead. Aeon was right, he was pissed off, enough so to punch Aeon in the face if he had not held himself back.
Edel gritted his teeth. "Do you know how much I hate dealing with you two?"
"I do, yes. You get angered so much quicker than you generally would."
He let out another grunt, "Good then. Don't waste my time and tell me what happened."
Aeon shook his head, "I wish. But I don't even know what happened."
"What." Aeon could feel his scowl burning into his skin.
Eldel slowly goes from being agitated to being completely fuming. He harshly slammed his hands on the table, causing some papers to fly up into the air. He leaned forward, closing the distance between them.
"YOU DARE TELL ME YOU KNOW NOTHING?!" He yelled.
Aeon calmly nodded, "I know nothing. She didn't involve me."
He let out a long huff as his fingers curled and eyes lowered. He stayed silent for a minute, before a bitter chuckle came out of him. Aeon could not discern his laughter, whether he was feeling defeated or betrayed. He wanted to do something to help, although there was nothing he could do to calm Edel's anger.
"Please… calm down." He honestly pleaded with Edel.
The room went silent again. Eldel had not raised his head although his demeanour did lessen considerably. Their eyes met again with Eldel's still disappointed gaze and his apologetic one. He finally raised his head and let out a loud sigh, calming himself down before talking again.
"Can we have a recap of how you all work so I at least have something to give them?" His tone softened.
Aeon nodded, "Of course."
He began to explain, "We are, by layman's terms, ghosts. We have a physical body but it isn't a necessity for us to live. The living, meaning you guys, can't see us without a physical body. Unless you were about to die or are near a death date. That's the reason why no one noticed it initially."
Eldel raised a brow, "Then how did he get recorded?"
"It's because of Amelia's status. I assume you remember what she is."
"I do, but it doesn't make sense per se. Didn't you mention before that ours works differently than yours?" He scratched his head.
Aeon stayed quiet for a minute before talking, "She can force certain things onto people. That is one of them."
"And explain those certain things." He was going to demand answers from the only person who knew all of them.
Aeon opened his mouth but could only let it agape as he ran over the options in his head. He continued to reason with himself, especially with how Eldel was taking all of this information. Yet, there was this part of him that could not tell him. He wanted to, but he had his own reasons for not telling him.
"Explain why you couldn't tell me." Eldel knew he couldn't wait much longer, so he spoke before Aeon did.
"It's confidential."
Eldel's eyes glared at him, "That's the best you can say?"
"Yes, that's the best I can say." Aeon closed his eyes.
'It's for the best that he doesn't know that much.' His thoughts as he said it.
Eldel looked like he gave up on asking anything else, he picked up the papers on the ground and neatly stacked them back. His facial expression showed every emotion boiling inside of him; Dissatisfaction, frustration and bitterness. Aeon lowered his head, not being able to look at Eldel since he only gave him more headaches.
"I wonder on what day can you live up to that promise," He mumbled.
Aeon opened his eyes, groaning lightly with Eldel purposely dodging his sight. They exchange no more words as Eldel unlocked his handcuff with a key. He simply pointed at the door and let Aeon walkout by himself, not even giving him another glance.
"I assume I'll see you soon from the progression of these events." He muttered.
Aeon's gaze lingered for moments longer than needed before he left the basement.
"I'm sure she's holding up fine without me. But… there is this lingering feeling of unrest in this place. I don't think I'm wrong about how things will go… It's just… for whose sake are we doing it for?"
He walked out of the station and looked upwards. A sad yet comforting smile appeared on his lips, asking himself questions that he would never get an answer to. The skies might be able to calm him down, but never fully. So long as those questions remain in his mind, he would never be able to sleep comfortably.
"If it were Amelia. I think I would've been hit on the head by this point.'
The sun had gone absent and replaced by the moon. The skies coloured in black as the clouds were barely visible. The streets quiet down as more people return to the comfort of their homes.
Even so, the podium was being illuminated by the moonlight peeking through the window.
"I didn't think you'd give me a visit." A pastor said with a welcoming smile.
The empty church would give Aeon some bad memories, with the benches carefully lined and kept pristine. The gap from the door gave more light creeping in though it still would not make it go away. The silence had always been eerie to him, even if he could not smell any trace of blood in it.
"Hmm… you think so?"
Amelia walked in with her usual bored expression. She sat on the front row and leaned on it, looking at the ceiling and letting her arm spread across it. She made herself present, already being comfortable with the nothingness around her quickly.
"I thought it was unwise to be in enemy territory?" He chuckled.
A teasing laugh came from her, "I almost killed him. What made you think I should be afraid?"
He walked down to where she was, "Correct. But you aren't talking to 'him' right now."
She stared directly at him, "What makes you think that I don't know that?"
"You're right. You would know. We are the same after all." He said that with a twisted smile.
She shook her head, "Now now, don't lump us together. I don't have malicious intentions to do it to someone else."
Amelia sat upright when he was getting too close to her. He stood still with the same smile, his body tilted slightly. His pupils glowing red, they resembled a cat's as it was sharp. The moonlight that was giving him a shadow made him seem that much more horrifying, as if he was being someone he was not.
"Are you not afraid that I'll kill you right here, right now?"
She shrugged, "Nope. I can't die that easily."
"I'd assume that you're the one with the pastor idea, correct?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yes. I did. I can easily gain it after all so there wasn't a need to let others do it."
"You have a name?"
"Noir. And why do you ask?"
A smile crept onto her lips, "Curiosity. Also just so I can confirm that is your name and not a stupid codename someone came up with."
He took a step closer to her yet she was sitting there, completely ignorant of his behavior. At least, she made it seem like so. He placed his hands behind his back, his eyes wandered around her body before staring back into her eyes. Even he was one who could get curious about the woman sitting in front of him.
"You don't look physically strong, Amelia. Though I do wonder why you have such strength." That look in his eyes told that the question was rhetorical.
She saw right through it, "Enough padding time. Guess as to why I'm here."
He closed his eyes, "There are a lot of reasons why you would be here. Is it because of that incident or something else entirely? Even I wouldn't even be able to guess."
He continued, "If I were to guess… some challenge I suppose? It seems like something you are interested in."
"You're about there. Though I'm now more interested in what you think."
"Oh?"
She stood up with a grin, extended her hand to show a chess piece materialized from ice. The chess piece was a black horse, with its head facing Noir. He did not open his eyes yet he noticed the surge of mana on her palm. He did not dare to take another step, fearing that he might lose his head there.
"How interesting. You can do things like that?" It was something new, as shown by his child-like curiosity.
"I always could. However, I only use them for fanciful things."
He finally opened his eyes, his smile remained on his lips as he noted the piece on her palm, "A knight? Unconventional choice if it's referring to who I think it is."
"Don't worry, I'm not referring to chess. Just the title."
She continued, "It's about you. After all, you do all you can to protect him from dying. Is that not what a knight does?"
"I only did so to preserve myself. Nothing more, nothing less." He adamantly replied.
"Some parts of it might be true, but there are elements that contradict what you say. Make it how you like but you also believe in him and his ideals, so you're not just an observer. You're also an active participant." She stopped once she noticed the slight change on his lips.
She continued with a slight chuckle, "I'm not wrong, am I now?"
He tilted his head more, "I'm not going to deny nor agree to your assumptions."
Amelia crushed the knight piece in her palm, letting it disappear. She walked around him, he stood still with no intention of moving. He set his head upright, his eyes followed her around as she continued to circle him. He wondered what she was doing, since he was still unsure of her exact intentions.
"Fractured rib cage here, broken ankle here, major blood loss there, presence of spell protection here, a broken arm there and some nerve damage." She muttered while looking.
His expression turned into confusion, "Why are you suddenly interested in where all the wounds and injuries are?"
"Bragging rights I suppose," Noir knew that she was lying.
She stopped then shrugged, "Well, I'm done with all that I wanted. You're free to ask me anything."
"Of course, I won't tell you everything but I'll say as much as I'd like." She leaned forward with her arms crossed.
"Then it will be the most curious of them all. Why did you let us live?"
They stared at each other for a moment before she said anything. She was grinning with a feeling that he couldn't understand. Was it amusement or was it something more nefarious? He wanted to think about it once this was over. It might take hours, but something to fill his boring mind was welcomed.
"Indeed. Why did I let you live? There are a couple of reasons, but it's just too shit on The Council. Besides that childish one, there is an actual reason. Though the most I'll give you is this,"
She paused and leaned back, "You're deciding moment was not there. Oh no, it's far from it. We both still have a long way to go before our final destination. But by that time, whether you'll be dead or alive, it's once again on my hands."
He raised a brow, "Again?"
"Yep, it's again on my hands."
She tilted her head with a stern expression, "After all, he could've died all that years ago. Then again, if it weren't for me he wouldn't have gone down this route. I guess it does come full circle after all those years."
He looked more confused, "So you both have met before."
"I used to consider him as my older brother figure that I can look up to. Of course, after that entire thing, he just disappeared and I thought he died but it was after I became Guardian Goddess that I knew he was alive."
Noir replied with a nod, "Then why did you have him as well?"
"That, I can't answer you. You should know the answer to that question." She said with a smile.
He grinned, "The same thing with a different narrative I see."
"Is that all you have to ask?" She continued to smile.
"Just one more…" He said, raising one of his hands.
"What are you actually after, with all the in-depth investigation on all the… cults, as you all liked to call them."
She placed her chin on her palm, "That's classified information. The most I can tell you is that we are adjusting things accordingly."
"After all, you all are interrupting the balance and our role as a whole. So, we do need to adjust it accordingly, we aren't that unfair all things considered." She waved her free hand.
"Your role is to maintain the balance between good and bad?"
Her expression turned into a faux surprised, "Oh? I thought you both know."
"No, we don't. We try as best as we can to figure out all about you guys but the information is scarce."
She laughed, "Of course, we are incredibly secretive about what we are truly up to."
"That's about it. Thank you for your time~" He was intentionally sarcastic and raised his voice a pitch.
She placed her hands in the pockets, "So you did inherit some traits from him."
"It's impossible not to. After all, we do share almost everything."
She walked past him and gave him a lazy wave, "We'll meet again soon. Although next time you'll be at the mercy of someone else's blade."
"And I'm looking forward to it." His eyes glowing again.
The door closed behind her with a slight 'thud'. His eyes stared at the door with a slight grin lingering on his face. He could not deny the interest he had in her, especially someone who was as mysterious as she was a jester in a way.
"I'm glad that I met her face to face. She's surely an interesting person." He mumbled.
Amelia continued to walk with a slight smile on her face, it then disappeared. She took a glance back at the church before it was out of her sight.
"He got a good idea going about it, but how much of that can work and can't, only time will tell as it seems."
She continued walking without looking back. The street lights were the only other thing lighting up the night, with the lights in people's houses closing one by one. It was going nearly silent aside from the blasting of music or cars passing by. Residents were deep in sleep without knowing what might be lurking near them.
Someone walked through the streets with a mask. They kept their face hidden away from anyone that might see or encounter them. They certainly looked suspicious though nobody was around to witness their suspicions for themselves. They began humming in the streets, their feet stopped in front of a door.
The door swung open by itself, a small gust of wind blowing out of it. They walked past the door and it closed by itself. The empty interior turned into a room and they took their mask off, revealing who they were to the others.
"Look at him, being so late to the party." William's lime coloured eyes stared at the mask.
Salem brushed her long silver hair with a brush, "I thought Charlie was always late hmm~?"
Vander leaned back on his chair, "Late every day. What are you, a sloth?"
Charlie smiled and placed the mask on a rack, "If I were, that would have been incredibly insulting. You're a meanie, Vander."
Vander clicked his tongue, ignoring anything else that Charlie was going to say.
"Well then, let the leader's 'cult' meeting commence." William got up from his seat.
The room was messy, to say the least. A few lights were hanging off the ceiling, lighting the room in a warm shade of yellow. It had some chairs and a round table in the middle. The corner had some miscellaneous things lying around. Some were papers, articles of clothes and empty boxes. There was a counter with a coffee maker and a couch beside it.
"We are currently being tracked down by them, correct?" Will said while placing his arms on Vander's chair.
"Yep, they are giving me a lot of trouble. It's getting on my nerves." Vander's head tilted to the side while rolling back his brown eyes.
"What I've heard from what little Cyliam decided to tell us, one of their bases was ambushed by the upper-rank army and mostly wiped out. Only some members remained from that incident." Will waved his hand back and forth.
Charlie sat down and leaned on the table, "That means we could be next as well."
Salem laughed, "Good for me. There are people I need to get rid of."
"Those who don't believe in the cause, should not even be here." She continued with a grin.
He placed his head on his arms and tilted to the left, "Is there anything we should do to avoid it, or should we engage it? They sound risky still and it doesn't seem to be very worth it."
"I'd engage it, after all, there are people unworthy that I need to take care of." Salem was happier about getting rid of people than actually paying attention to the potential dangers.
Vander shook his head, "I won't. I too have too much at stake to lose. We need as many hands-on Worship Organisation as possible."
"I won't either, it's too much trouble for the Peace Organisation." Charlie shrugged.
"I won't too, having them die is too bad. The risk doesn't outweigh the benefit. Besides, it's a pain looking for people to fill in the missing slots." Will sat back down on his seat.
Salem swung her brush in her fingers, her grin continued to linger on her face as she mumbled something. The rest could not hear what she was saying but assumed that she was planning on how to work on her own plans. She was rather giddy about the entire thing, which creeped Will out.
"Damn woman, keep your own fetishes to yourself." Will grumbled while glaring at her.
She simply smiled back at him, "My~ Would you like to spill some blood for me~?"
"Like hell I would!" Will pushed himself away from the table.
Charlie decided to talk about something else in the meantime, although he could not help but chuckle lightly at them. Naturally, his laughter caught Will's attention. He smacked him on the head, this time making Salem laugh instead. Vander pretended that they were not in the same room as he looked away from them.
Charlie spoke after a moment, "How are all your progress?!"
He spoke first before anyone else, being rather excited to announce his progress, "We have been doing great! Already making big improvements on the spells!"
"It's coming along good… I guess... We are working hard on the cleanse but nothing much of interest is coming up." Will replied, still glaring at him.
Vander placed his cheeks in his palm, "We are currently just missing something since it's very hard to obtain so we might need a substitute."
"Nothing you can ask Liam for?" He asked, blinking a few times.
Vander sighed loudly, "Nope. Who can even obtain a God's/Goddess's blood?"
Charlie noticed a glint in Salem's eyes when he said so, her lips curled up into an excited grin instead of her usual twisted one. Even so, he could feel that she had something else in mind as well. She stood up and slammed her hands on the table, gaining the attention of the other two who were thinking about their own development.
"I CAN!" She exclaimed.
He raised a brow, "How exactly?"
"I could just get into a fight with one of the Goddesses! Didn't rumours say that Aeon adopted a Goddess and a rabbit girl into his care?!" She spoke a mile an hour while staring at Vander.
Will's expression turned to question, "Aeon? Wouldn't that be too hard of a thing to accomplish?"
She giggled, "Don't worry, I have a major plan in my hands. Of course, that includes some manipulation here~"
Vander let out a defeated sigh knowing that he could not ask anyone else for help. He had wished, of all people he had to ask, to not be Salem. His worst nightmares had come true, though it was for the sake of himself and his own gang. No matter how much he disliked someone, he had to ask her for it.
"Get me a syringe of it if you can. Get more if you can but that is the minimum amount."
"Of course! But I need some backup from you three." She nodded with the same grin.
Charlie placed his fingers on his chin, "You mean you're going to target the Andrata girl and Aeon as well? Ambitious."
"Yep. That's why I need backup!"
Will smiled and leaned back, "I'll give you a bit of hand then."
"I thought you weren't that interested in things like these." Salem commented.
He shook his head, "Sometimes, you just want to see how strong your own units are."
"I would do so too. Though unfortunately most of them die in a ditch so…" Her disappointment was bare for all of them to hear.
"I asked so I can't say no now can I?" Vander sat upright as he agreed begrudgingly.
Charlie shook his head, "I won't give any of you a hand. I need all of them right now, so no more children for you. If you want, maybe ask Cyliam."
"Hmm… would be too much trouble as he's recovering," Salem said with her eyes closed.
She clapped her hands after a moment, gaining back their attention. "Well, that settles that for now. So when are we attacking?"
Another night silently passing…
Aeon did not know any of it as he slept soundly that night. Andrata's sword beside the door had begun blinking red like it was listening in to their conversation, warning them of the dangers that were coming on their doorstep. Although no one had seen it, they simply had to witness it for themselves.
As selfish as they were, it was simply their job. Even if that meant having to kill another.