"I thought you said we would make it to town!" Sempre complained, his voice echoing from his vase.
"Well, I'd like to see you carry all our stuff without getting tired." Torcia replied, tossing twigs into a burning campfire. The sun had set hours ago, and Torcia decided to set up camp in a clearing by the trail. He had pitched a mint-condition tent, and sat on a smooth rock that happened to be nearby. Torcia had just finished his last packed meal, with plans to buy more food upon entering the village the next day.
"Back in my prime, I could lift twice your body weight! Heh, which isn't saying much…" Sempre said with a sly hint of pride. He was placed next to the fire, his charred remains able to bask in the warmth within his potted prison.
"We'll make for the village first thing tomorrow. We can get more supplies and maybe some decent food, too…" Torcia planned, standing up and stretching. "I have no idea what was in that steak, but it sure wasn't meat!" He jokingly added, standing up and walking away from the campfire.
"Don't you disrespect your grandmother's cooking! Wait, where are you going?" Sempre asked, able to hear Torcia's footsteps.
"Just getting some more wood, our fire's gonna die soon," Torcia replied, approaching a thick, branch-ridden tree. Pocketknife in hand, he sliced at a branch, gritting his teeth as flakes of bark flew off.
"Don't leave me all alone! What if I fall over? Or get kidnapped?!" Sempre shouted back. He was… oddly worried about the idea.
"Kidnapped? Now you're just being paranoid-" Torcia started, only to freeze up as he felt something splat along his left palm. He quickly turned his hand up, finding a strange, yellow foam had covered it. "Ew…" Torcia gagged, attempting to rub the strange, solid ooze off on the tree. As he did so, the foam soured into turn a solid brown. Before he knew it, Torcia's hand was covered in bark, binding him to the tree! He did a double take, unable to believe his eyes. Torcia tried to pull his hand away but to no avail. "G-Grandad! My hand… It merged with the tree!"
"Not quite." An unfamiliar voice piped up. From behind the tree, a man leaned out. It was the man who had been watching Torcia in the trees, a calm look on his face. "It's more accurate to say that the foam turned into wood, trapping your hand along with it." He corrected, walking past Torcia and towards the campfire.
"W-who are you?! Wa-wait, stay away from Grandpa!" Torcia yelped, trying to tear himself from the tree. The man ignored Torcia, walking up to Sempre's vase without looking back.
"So, he was your grandfather? How sad." The man calmly asked, shaking his head as he picks the vase up. "I hear he was a great man, a shame he's gone, but-"
"WUH? TORCIA? WHO'S THERE?!" Sempre suddenly shouted, the shock causing the man to drop the vase. Thinking quickly, the man shot his left arm out, a golden magic circle appearing before it. The circle sprayed out a stream of the foam, splatting onto the side of the vase before layering upwards. The foam quickly hardened into clay, creating a long handle that the man grabbed onto.
"T… That was close…" The man sighed, pulling the vase into his arms. The handle began to drip, turning into a yellow liquid that seeped into the grass. "I see, so it can talk… I was wondering why Vita wanted this… thing."
"Vita?! That rotten bastard!" Sempre snarled. "To think, now he's got underlings!"
Torcia looked between the man and the vase, at a loss for what to do. "W-who's Vita? Grandpa, what's going on?!"
The man simply set the vase down before looking back at Torcia. "You mean, they never told you? Shameful… But it also means we have no use for you." He shook his head, turning to approach Torcia. "My name is Mio Mestiere, and while I won't spill a word about Vita, I also cannot allow you to stop me. I will not kill you, but I shall knock you out so I can't be followed."
Torcia froze up, still struggling to try and pull his hand out. The sound of Mio's footsteps was broken by Sempre's shouting: "TORCIA, DO SOMETHING!"
"I-I…" Torcia stuttered, his heart pounding. He raised his knife into the air before jamming it down into the bark that coated his hand. After a few good stabs, the top of the bark split open, allowing Torcia to pull his hand out. Not wasting a moment, Torcia blindly charged toward Mio, knife in hand. "LEAVE US ALONE!"
"Running right at me? Clearly, you've never been in a fight." Mio observed, shaking his head. Torcia lunged forward in an attempt to stab Mio, but it was in vain. "Inexperience will only lead to failure!" Mio snapped, summoning a magic circle at the ground before spraying out foam. The foam piled up into a wall, which hardened into solid soil the moment Torcia's knife entered inside. Torcia gasped aloud, his mind racing as he tried to tear his blade out.
Seeing Torica's confusion, Mio cleared his throat. "My spell is named Copy Foam, a branch of creation magic. My foam will take the properties of any surface it touches. This time, it became the dirt beneath our feet." Mio explained, walking around his impromptu wall of soil before striking Torcia square in the jaw with a punch. "It cannot bind to human skin, however. It makes for a perfect trap, wouldn't you agree?!"
Torcia stumbled back, letting go of the knife. The impact burned his cheek, but he managed to stay standing. "Ack… S-so, that's your spell? Well… Here's mine!" Torcia shouted, summoning a magic circle between his hands. Mio braced himself, putting his fists up to counter whatever Torcia would throw at him.
It all happened so fast. Mio could only see the attack coming for a split second from the corner of his eye before his face was blasted by a cloud of thick, smoky powder. Mio made the mistake of inhaling a mouthful of the dust, causing him to cough loudly before covering his eyes and mouth. "It's called Ash Dance, and it lets me control ash at will!" Torcia defiantly cried. He had used the wood ash from the campfire to assault Mio!
"AGH!" Mio cried, backing away from the cloud of ash. His eyes were burning, and his mouth was bone-dry. He had let his guard down yet again, and it had cost him. He attempted to regain his composure, straightening his posture before forcing his eyes open. "That is the second time I have been deceived by mere ash… I shall not let it happen again- Huh?" He blanked, realizing that Torcia was nowhere in sight. The ash fluttered to the ground, piling around Mio's feet. "Where'd he go?!"
Torcia ran. He ran as fast as his legs could carry both himself and Sempre's vase. The trees whipped by as he huffed and puffed for air, the fear rising within him. "What are you doing?! You should have fought like a real man!" Sempre complained, tucked beneath Torcia's shoulder.
"Are you crazy?! I don't know how to fight!" Torcia blurted out, gasping for air as his stamina drained on him. His dinner sloshed around inside him, causing a nauseating feeling that plagued his stomach.
"Bah! I can't believe that Vita! To think he'd send others to do his dirty work!" Sempre grumbled, his remains bouncing around inside his urn. "Oogh… Could ya run a little less bouncily? I'm gonna be sick…"
"N-not the time! Can you even get sick?! No- wait, that's not important! Who the heck is Vita?!" Torcia asked, his voice short of breath as he ran for both his life and his grandfather's afterlife.
"Ah, now you're asking the real questions! See, it all started-" Sempre began, only to be interrupted by a scream from Torcia. Mio had appeared before him, spraying a wall of foam between two trees
"I cannot allow you to escape!" Mio declared, the foam combining with the bark from the trees to form a barrier of wood. Torcia slid to a halt, mere centimeters from smacking into the wall. He looked to his left and right, noticing that two other walls had been put up on each side. Mio cleared his throat, having walked around the walls to get behind Torcia. He was trapped, with nowhere to run. "Now, hand over the urn."
"Y-you're acting so calm about all this… What's your deal? Who is Vita? Why does he want Grandad? Why is nobody telling me?!" Torcia wailed. Panic and frustration had built up inside him. Why did he have to get roped into this?
"I must remain calm. Panic and fear only lead to rash decisions." Mio answered, adjusting his jacket which glittered in the moonlight. "That is the difference between predator and prey, one is cunning and calm… And the other is you." He simply stated. There was no aggression in his voice, a cold collectedness in his tone. "As for Vita… Why don't you ask it?" Mio suggested, swaying a persuasive hand over to the urn. Torcia looked down at Sempre expectantly, his eyes bulging with fear.
Sempre sighed. "Oh, Torcia… You of all people shouldn't be involved in this… Vita is an old… acquaintance of mine. He knew I held a secret, but when I refused to tell him, he vowed to do anything to figure it out…"
"I-I see… And that secret is?" Torcia asked, his arms and legs quivering as he backed up along the wall.
"... Immortality," Sempre answered. "True immortality, without the need for spells like Ashen Haunt." He elaborated. The revelation rocked Torcia to the core, his mouth agape. Mio just shook his head.
"Well, there you have it. I'll be taking those ashes now." Mio decided, stepping forward. Torcia held Sempre close, gulping.
"H-he has a name! He's more than just ashes!" Torcia shouted. This caused Mio to stop, surprised by Torcia's sudden aggression.
"Ah… You see, that is where you're incorrect. When you look at it, you see a person, with feelings and dreams. But when I look at it? All I see is a pile of ash and clay." Mio explained. He said this like it was fact, believing it so. "Now then, hand it over." He demanded, abruptly breaking into a run at Torcia.
"Y… You're unforgivable." Torcia muttered, glaring up at Mio before swinging his leg up. Mio suddenly froze, his face twisting up in pain. Torcia… kicked Mio right in the crotch!
"DAMN!" Mio suddenly screamed, dropping to his knees and holding himself. He had talked a big game about being calm, but proceeded to underestimate Torcia yet again! Torcia used this chance to blitz past Mio, who in a moment of desperation turned around and shot foam toward Torcia. Unannounced to Torcia, the foam hit his back as he ran into the darkness. "Next time… Next time I'll get him… Just, give me a minute…"
A few minutes later, Torcia found himself in a clearing that overlooked a cliff. He had to stop quickly to avoid running right off, looking down in awe. The village he was heading for was at the bottom of the cliff, the nightly lights glowing a welcoming gleam. "A-alright, we'll have to climb down!"
"Wha? You suck at climbing!" Sempre replied. "You'll never make it down, especially while holding me! Besides, what about our stuff?"
"I uh, uh…" Torcia blubbered. He was trying to remain calm, but this was all too much. He could hear the crunch of footsteps growing louder from behind him and knew he had to make a choice. He held Sempre tight and leaned over the cliff. There was a shelf of rock a few meters below, one that he was sure he could hop down to. "Okay… Here we go-!" Torcia gulped, moving forward to jump. But before he could, Torcia was suddenly whipped backward, falling onto his back. The force sent Sempre flying through the air, his lid somehow staying shut tight.
"YOU IDIOT! WHEN I HIT THE GROUND I'M GONNA-" Sempre screamed, his midair momentum being halted by a hand grabbing the vase. Mio stood a few meters behind Torcia, holding Sempre in one hand and a red bunch of fabric in his other.
"You… Are a fool…" Mio stated, breathing heavily and dripping with sweat. "Going down that cliff would have been suicide." He added. Torcia didn't notice it before, but his tunic had a long tail of cloth stemming from his back. Mio was grabbing the end of this tail, holding on tightly. "When you were running, I sprayed some foam onto your back. It turned into cloth, giving you a leash for me to ensnare you with!"
With the urn in hand, Mio let go of the cloth. "I know before I said I would only knock you out, but now that you know what we're after… Well, I'm above killing, but I shall take you to Vita himself." Mio decided, launching two streams of foam at Torcia. The foam covered his legs, turning into a tight blanket of binding, tall grass that wrapped around his thighs and prevented him from moving.
Torcia tried to pull his legs out, but the grass dug into his skin like a tight rope. "I… I won't let you!" Torcia yelled. This made Mio raise an eyebrow, readying another magic circle. "I'm terrified and confused… Y-you're way stronger than me… But if I allow you to treat the dead as mere objects, I'll be a disgrace to the Passiago name!" He declared, pointing at Mio.
"Heh, that's my boy… He's going to kick your sorry ass!" Sempre snarled. Mio ignored his words, simply shaking his head with a lofty sigh.
"Oh? I'm sorry, but as I said, it is a mere object." Mio shrugged. "Even if it can talk, it is but a useless lump of ash." He explained. Just then, he felt the urn begin to vibrate. Mio looked down at the urn, his heart pounding with confusion.
"A lump of ash, sure… But I wouldn't call it useless!" Torcia snapped. He had two magic circles above his hands and a smirk on his face. Mio realized what was about to happen, but it was too late. The lid of the vase popped open as Sempre's ashes swarmed out, blasting Mio right in the head!
"AGGGGH!" Mio cried, grabbing his face as the ash swarmed around him.
"AGGGGH! STOP STOP STOP!" Sempre screamed, his body being thrown around like dust in the wind. Unable to see, Mio stumbled about, his arms batting at the ash around him. He was coughing and wheezing, all of his senses being tortured before… He fell. Mio dropped straight down. He wasn't looking where he was going, and fell right off the cliff!
A loud, hard CRASH rang out into the sky before everything fell silent. The cloth on Torcia's back and the grass around his legs began to drip, turning into pools of liquid. Torcia stands up and sighs, moving Sempre's ashes back into the vase. He picks the vase up and locks the lid on tight. It's over… "Are… Are you okay?"
"OKAY?! YOU JUST TURNED ME INTO A HURRICANE!" Sempre roared, blinding anger in his voice. "Oogh… I think I pulled something…"
"Uh huh, at least you're safe…" Torcia smiled, petting the vase on the lid. His adrenaline was starting to wear off, and the thoughts began to creep in. What was that all about? What is the secret to immortality? Would more people attack him? Would he have to fight more?
"I… I'm sorry. I guess I've got some explaining to do…" Sempre piped up, sounding rather sorrowful. "I just had no idea Vita would do something like this… How he even knew I'm still conscious is beyond me!"
"Yeah, you do. But first…" Torcia shook his head, walking to the cliff and nervously peering over. Mio was laying flat on the cliff ledge Mio was going to jump down to, still alive but unconscious.
"... Well, what are you gonna do with him?" Sempre asked. "If it were me, I'd leave him there to die!" He suggested. Torcia looked down at Sempre in surprise. Sure, Mio attacked him, but…
"... I have a better idea."