Trigger Warning:
Graphic depictions of violence | Sexual Assault
"Nalé!"
She's shaken out of her sleep by Yami's thunderous voice.
She turns to the captain who's right beside her, and wonders why he had to be so loud since they're literally side by side.
"Yes, Captain?"
He continues, newspaper in hand, cigarette lit.
"A mission just came in. A bunch of bandits have taken over this town in the forsaken realm, and are using it to facilitate their drug trade. Your mission is to capture them, and find more information about their work. Take Finral with you."
"Will do." she responds, getting up from the couch and stretching, limbs splayed wide, tensing for a second before loosening up.
"Cool, now get out of my face. I got a brand new scoop from my newspaper. Apparently some guy keeps taking shits down people's chimneys. Who does he think he is...Santa? It's not even Christmas yet..."
Yami inhales his smoke perplexed at the behavior of this odd criminal.
"…"
Nalé turns around, almost robotically, and leaves in search of Finral.
She decided she'd simply forget what she just heard come out of the captain's mouth.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
It's been a little more than a week since she completed her first mission.
All has been going well.
Yami's ass has been cured which means he's in a better mood these days. He hasn't gotten back to her about the mysterious fruit or her grimoire though.
But she's in no particular hurry, she continues with her daily workouts, and has even had the chance to fight Luck and Magna.
She was absolutely decimated in these so called battles but in return her strength, stamina and reaction time have increased exponentially. She can now keep her own against the boars that occasionally stumble across the Black Bulls' fortress.
She's also gotten her first paycheck!
Because of this, she's had the opportunity to go shopping with Vanessa and get a new wardrobe, as well as trinkets, potions, tools and herbs in preparation for the lab she plans to build.
She now sports leather boots, black leggings and crops tops as her daily work outfit, accompanied by the Black Bulls' cape.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
She finds him in the library going over a map of the clover kingdom, tracing and highlighting paths, eyes furrowed in concentration.
She stands there watching him work for a bit before she finally decides to interrupt him.
"Ahem" she coughs loudly, causing the man to snap out of his daze, and clumsily bumping into a chair.
"Hi Finral!" she waves softly, striding over to his table.
"Hi," he responds almost breathlessly.
She ignores his tone and focuses on the map. "This looks interesting, What do these little symbols mean?" she says pointing at the triangular marks.
"They're the places I've recently visited," he says eager to tell someone more about his abilities.
"This," he continues pointing to the journal positioned by the map "contains the details of the places I've recently marked on the map, so that I can properly visualize where to open my portals. I wouldn't want to open them near a camp of monsters after all."
"I see." she nods, impressed at his abilities.
"That's so interesting, it's nice to see how much work goes into your portals, you're very meticulous when it comes to them."
He blushes and bites his lips, nervously trying to will away the warmth he feels on his face, to no avail.
She thinks he's adorable.
𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨.
Before she could think any further, her mouth decided to take the lead and ask "Can I give you a hug, Finral?"
Now it's her time to be embarrassed, a beat passes and she looks to the floor a barely noticeable blush overtaking her features.
"Yea" her head shoots up to look at Finral who's head is titled to the side as if to not look at her , face impossibly red.
She hesitates for a second before pulling him to her and giving him the softest hug she could muster.
After a moment he puts his arms around her, leaning into her warm embrace, and burying his face in her neck.
"Finral?" she asks, still encased in his arms
"Yes?" he responds, voice slightly muffled.
"If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm around sometimes. I know we're not that close, but that'll change sometime in the future, and when you feel comfortable enough, I hope we can chat more casually. You ran away the first time we met, and haven't talked to me since, so I didn't have time to get to know you."
She pauses to take a breath in before she continues to speak.
"From what I've seen so far and what I've heard from the others, you're absolutely adorable, hardworking, and awesome as fuck, bending reality and all to open your portals.
So, please don't be nervous around me, I hope we can become good friends in the future."
"Ok," he whispers, smiling, a bit teary eyed.
They part slowly, and her hands tentatively reach his face, wiping his tears.
They smile for a while longer at each other. basking in this wholesome vibe until Nalé remembers her reason for coming here in the first place.
"Oh, I forgot! I'll be going on my next mission in a few hours and Yami told me to take you with me, you up for it?" she asks, hands on her hips fervid with energy for adventure and justice!
"Yea, I'm up for it," he responds, face now back to normal, and heart content.
He reluctantly turns back to the table and gestures to the map.
"Since, we have the map in front of us, let's not waste time and look for where this town is."
She takes a seat at the table, and tries to recall the details.
"Yami said it was in the town of Yesa, It's in the eastern part of the forsaken realm and near the border of the spade Kingdom."
Finral focuses on the map, and within seconds he finds what he's looking for.
"There!" he exclaims pointing at a city in the common realm. "I haven't been to many of the towns in the forsaken realm so I can't be closer than that city."
"It's fine," she shrugs, waving her hand, ",we can just walk the rest of the way there."
Finral sweat drops.
𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵…𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘥, 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.
Nalé continues speaking, unaware of the dilemma brewing in Finral's mind.
"Let's go pack some supplies and prepare ourselves. We'll meet downstairs in 30 minutes ok?"
Finral nods, and she leaves.
"Why are you giving me orders? I'm supposed to be the one leading as a senior here." he whispers as he pouts and treads to his room.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
They're in the living room, double checking to see if they have everything they need before heading off to their mission.
"You got everything Finral?" she asks as she rummages through her bag.
"Yea I'm good," he answers bag on his back.
"Let's go then."
"Bye you little shits" Yami says as he waves them away still entrenched into the story from earlier.
They both wave as they step through the portal disappearing from the Black Bulls' base.
The captain of the Black bulls stares at the spot where two of his members just left and he whispers "Be safe, you idiots."
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
"Wow" she breathes out while stepping out of Finral's portal.
The portal had opened near a creek.
The sky had a grey tinge to it, it had recently rained and it was getting dark out but that didn't stop this area from boasting its beauty.
It smelled slightly of honey dew and the trees' branches danced softly in the wind as if serenading any passerby who happened to come across them.
The birds lay in their nests singing beautiful songs ,whilst the insects and critters scurried around in their homes.
And the creek added the final touch to this naturally made symphony, with its gurgles and soothing streams.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Finral asked closing his portal behind her.
He began to walk ahead.
She stood still for a few seconds, admiring the view and appreciating the sweet sounds of this location.
"It is," she agrees, as she walks at a faster pace to catch up.
"How'd you find this place?" she wondered, looking around still bewitched by this path.
"I was in a nearby town and decided to explore for a place where my future girlfriend and I could come to hang out. Or just a place I could show her sometime" said Finral as he walked, staring off a dreamy look on his face.
"How sweet of you." She says, impressed by how far he's thought about his future girlfriend.
But then she remembered what happened on her last date and decided it was time to change the subject.
"Let's get back on track, shall we?"
"What's our plan? We don't know how may bandits there are or what their abilities are."
Finral answers "If we can, we should first focus on getting the information, that's only if they're not already there, by the time we arrive."
She nods and continues to build up their plan "How are we going to capture them?"
"I have no idea." Finral answers shrugging, "I haven't been involved in combat much, since I've joined the Black bulls."
"Hm" she hums, nodding in understanding.
"Well my tactic is stealth. To save time I'll be going for just one hit. I'll target the groin or the torso, maybe the neck. I can't afford to lead a fight on."
"I have no magic as of now, but I have weapons. The only problem is that my weapons are close range. I can distract them with sounds if the need arises."
"Can you make your portal move?" she asks suddenly.
"What? Can I make my portal move?" he rubs his chin in wonder, "I can try."
He summons a portal, and concentrates on making it move.
"Oh shit, it moved! Why did I never think of that?" he asks himself, "Thank you for the suggestion!"
"You're welcome Finral." she says grinning.
"A tactic has come to mind now that I've discovered this. "
"What if I bring the portal to them. Like if they're running, I can make the portal appear near them, and during that split moment of confusion, you can do the hitting, we can tie them up, and then I ship them to the capital."
"Damn...That's a good plan Finral."
"We'll move as a unit, I found a metal bat in the basement," she says as she swings it around.
"I can use that to stun them, and then tie them up."
"Fair enough" he said, secretly panicking and wondering if they were the right people for the job.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
Nalé and Finral were currently up in a tree near the town's border, scanning the bandit's layouts and patrol paths .
It was already nighttime but the town seemed to be still be active, the captives ones were mostly bandits though, they were carrying torches and patrolling through the town.
"It seems like they're a decent size. There are 15 houses in this village, I only see one bandit per house." She says binoculars in hand.
"What about the bigger building at the center of the town?" Finral asks.
"That must be where the boss is. There might be a ton of them in there."
Finral cuts in "Let's be careful, there might be bandits in the houses. I've already written my notes for when I transport the bandits near the jail area."
"Got it."
"You ready to go? she asks Finral, readying her weapon.
"Yea, let's do this."
They climb down the tree, careful to not alert the bandits.
Finral gets to the nearest bandit first, creating a portal underneath him.
"Wha-" before the criminal has the chance to say anything , he's pulled down into the portal, instantly reappearing in front of Nalé who takes this moment to wrap her arms around the bandits neck, squeezing tightly.
He was out in a matter of seconds.
They blindfolded the man, and covered his mouth, tying his hands so there was no way he could catch them off guard.
Nalé confiscated his grimoire, putting it into her eternal bag, she'd ask whoever was responsible later.
"All done Finral, your turn again." She whispered as she dusted off her clothes.
He stares at her for a second, almost shocked at how quick they've already captured the bandit.
"Got it" He puts the note on the bandit, transporting him into one of the Capital's jails.
They worked together in harmony, Finral using his magic to bring the bandits to Nalé and Nalé choking them out within seconds. They both participate in tying them up, and Finral gets the last dig , transferring them to the capital. She kept all of their grimoires, of course.
They ended up taking out 20 bandits, one by one stealthily, in a matter of an hour. They made sure to check the houses for any extras and to see if the villagers were alright.
Thankfully they were. The bandits didn't rough them up too badly. Apparently they chose this town to take over because it grew a type of magical herb that can be made into a drug. They didn't harm the villagers because they needed the drug to be produced here, to be conspicuous.
"Whoever chose these low level bandits as goons must've been stupid, we defeated them quite easily." Finral said as he surveyed the area.
Then he mumbled "Even I was able to take down some by myself, they must've been really weak."
Nalé, hearing the last part furrowed her brows and marched up to him. "No, we just caught them off guard, using the plan we both made up, none of this was a fluke and they didn't seem weak to me"
She stared him down, mentally hoping he took this as encouragement.
Finral sighed as he stared back at the older woman.
His self esteem issues weren't things that could be solved so easily. But he was glad she was trying, that meant she cared, and that was enough for him at the moment.
"Ok, ok. I'll word things more carefully next time."
"What a touching scene…" A mocking voice interrupts their conversation.
They immediately look to where the voice is coming from.
There sat a man only a few feet away from them ,legs crossed, cheek in hand, cooing at them.
Finral and Nalé were on edge, something about this man unnerved them . Nalé had her weapons in hand gripping them tightly. Next to her was Finral, ready to open portals at a moments notice.
"It was so touching," the strange man continued, "that I pulled out a chair to sit down and watch this sob story. A magic knight with self esteem issues? How'd you even get in?" He gestures towards Finral.
Finral stood silently, glowering at him.
Nalé had enough of him, she was tired and wanted to go home.
"Fight us already numb nuts! I have shit to do."
She talked calmly as if she didn't just insult him.
"Oh?" The man turned to her, eyes grazing her face and figure.
" I've never seen someone like you before, I wouldn't mind adding you to my collection."
Even in this world I can't seem to get away from creeps she thought.
"I guess you don't get out much, a degenerate with erectile dysfunction, and a creep too? How unlucky are you?"
The man's eyebrow twitched and before she knew it , he had grabbed her by the waist , faster than both Finral and her could respond.
He had taken her into the big building in the middle of the town and into his chambers within seconds.
Nalé not being used to this speed had to fight the bile that wanted to rise up into her throat.
Meanwhile Finral was left running after them trying to guess where they were, he had barely seen when he took her.
He runs into the building only to encounter a horde of bandits.
"Shit." He whispers.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
"Getting a little handsy aren't we?" She says, panicked, trying to hit the man with her bat.
Her hits seemed to have no effect on him. She was too close to him and couldn't gather enough momentum to hit him properly.
"I guess you could say that." The man said gripping her waist impossibly harder, he sat on the bed bringing her down on his lap.
"Hey man, I didn't consent to thi-"
She stops mid sentence choking at the sudden pain she felt in her waist.
She felt disoriented and looked down.
He had summoned spikes and impaled them into her waist.
"So beautiful isn't it." The brown haired man with the blue eyes cooed, mesmerized by the flow of blood streaming out of her waist as he kept taking the spikes out only to put them back in different spots.
She couldn't get a word out , only whimpering as she felt the intense throbs of pain overtake her.
He took this opportunity to graze his hands over the spikes on her waists reveling on his art work as she flinched in pain.
His hands went past the spikes , to the edge of her shirt , massaging the bare skin at the edge of her crop top.
He rested his chin on her shoulder and nibbled on her ear, tensing his hand so hard that he could feel her ribs in between his fingers.
"You know." He whispered , chuckling near her ear, feeling the teardrops on his shoulders.
"You shouldn't have provoked me earlier. I was simply going to have some quick fun in killing you both , but you just had to mention my manhood."
"That motivated me to show you, just before you died, how wrong you were, you little bitch."
He bit her neck drawing blood and then licked at her wounds.
"Sto-Stop" she tried to say, but he silenced her, kissing her with vigor.
He whimpered, excited to break another woman before they died at his hand.
His hands snuck underneath her crop top, slowly massaging the area under her breasts.
Nalé slowly gave in to the kiss, pushing away her disgust, deciding to take this distraction as an opportunity before this psychotic creep went any further.
She slowly reaches into the sheath that held her knife on her right thigh, grinding down on the man to distract him further, despite the pain from her waist.
And with a quick work of her hands she unsheathes the knife, and swipes it deep into his neck.
His wandering hands stop almost instantly.
He lets go, dropping her to the floor with a thump. He falls in the opposite direction unto his bed, the spikes that were in her fade away, his magic fading along with him as he bleeds to death due to the gaping wound in his neck.
She inhales and exhales shakily already trying to put this off in the back of her mind as just another bad memory.
But she can't, not with all the blood around her.
She feels her wounds closing quickly, but the burning pain of the spikes stay.
She lays on the floor, sobbing, arms wrapped around herself, nails scratching at her skin.
She wails, throat hurting under the stress of her cries.
She faints just as Finral slams the door open.