'Be careful how you'll use this ability of yours, oftentimes you may come in contact with images you would have rather not known…'
The voice of her previous and now distant mentor reverberated in her ears like a bell chime while she stared into the bathroom mirror laced with water droplets and filled with her pale appearance, noting just how much she hadn't taken those words to heart at the time…
Veronica had been a prodigy from birth, the likes of which, apart from the legends spread throughout the history of her family, had never been seen before. Her birth had been coupled with the arrival of tumultuous storms, the rustling of beast activity in the forest's of Luran and so forth. The prophets at the time had called her a second coming of benevolence, a gift from the Dragon of Death and a few years after her birth, she'd score an aptitude test of II.
Her gaze narrowed at her reflection, her expression turning serious as she mouthed something in what was most evidently not of human language as her eyes flickered a shade of bright yellow and her pupils turned into reptilian slits till a piercing headache overcame her and the process halted immediately.
'Remember that with divination and affinities related to the domain of Fate, there are boundaries. To see is already a benevolent gift from his Eminence but to want to know more is to overstep those boundaries and incur consequences better left unsaid' the voice recited once again.
"I just want to know!" Veronica shouted, a fist slamming into the bathroom sink as she heaved in a sharp breath and clicked her tongue in an attempt to calm her thoughts, "Who was she…"
Seer's had been known throughout the Republic in its furthest years of history, a rare affinity often associated with prophet's, however, while one was a God's given apostle that allowed the receiver abilities to take glimpses into a future shown by their benefactor, the other was an ability allowing for one to do this without a God's intervention. It seemed as though a cheat or a gift but the implications were horrifyingly not so, for while the prophets eyes were shielded from dangerous images, beast's and beings not meant to be seen through the help of their God, the Seer was not.
The affinity had become dangerous.
There was no telling what might be encountered upon during a divination, for the world of Witchcraft and Wizadry was dangerous. The most seemingly innocent events, normal people or harmless items sometimes or perhaps..most of the time, held horrors one wouldn't dare recount upon. Madness, Seer's of that age were riddled with it and even till now was a Seer's fate somewhat feared. For the question here in lied…
How long was it till she treaded too far, saw things she shouldn't?
Veronica's gaze dropped from her reflection and grew scornful, her hands slowly grasping at the edges of the sink with a deep seeded irritation that boiled within her like a raging inferno. After the meeting with Detective Beryl Reitz did Veronica take a good portion of her afternoon simply brooding over the events of that harrowing vision, she knew it was wrong though.
'Take your time to forget everything that happened, it's safer that way' had been Beryl's words and they were correct.
Prophets even, who had the protection of a Dragon weren't spared from having to forget and never speak of their dreams, never brood over what they saw for extended periods of time. The reason for this was as the reason never to divinate over dangerous items, people or events; there could be untold consequences. The general advice that every Wizard or Witch associated with the domain of Fate was, that the mind was a Wizard and Witch's most fragile organ, things easily corrupted them and senseless curiosity made those things aware of them.
Veronica's mentor had lectured her on a number of occasions that her affinity to Fate and her abilities as a Seer were never to be glad over, it took only the most unfortunate scenario to stumble upon something so otherworldly, so incomprehensible that it broke human reasoning for her mind to either whittle away or die on the spot. This fear was prevalent and could never be withdrawn, not even for a second. Veronica knew this, she knew that brooding and attempting to sift through the dreams or perform the divination again was against everything she'd ever been taught, it was testing deep and dark waters that weren't even supposed to be graced upon in the first place but she had to know.
If it was truly, well and truly Ludmilla who she'd seen in that vision then why was she there? How did Ludmilla correlate to even a fraction of what was going on within the case regarding the slaughters of the lower district? That was a vision given to her after divining the area in which the slaughter had occured, hoping to find a glimpse of the killer, their whereabouts or motives so how did Ludmilla correlate to that? And why…why was she standing against that thing, that…horror…
Veronica shook her head violently, the experience had shaken her up far more than she would've liked, she wasn't always like this. The strong, outgoing and fearless role model to the youth of Witchcraft and Wizadry, that was who she was so why had she been relegated to this broken mess?
'Tread carefully…' her mentor said again, she'd been remembering her a lot these past few days away from home…
*Knock*
*Knock*
"Young Lady Veronica, are you there?" Called a voice from behind Veronica's apartment door, it was Macy.
"Macy, I thought I already told you to treat me as an equal while we're still here and not to use my real name" she reprimanded but her tone held no real tension.
"Ah! Right, my apologies, Veraina"
Veraina was the name she'd taken up as a disguise, a front to ensure secrecy and her own protection. Veronica Von Ludunhime was far too much of a troublesome name to keep anyway, she was in the middle district after all and just a few days ago, in the lower one. Although participation and visitation of high blood members of the upper district traversing the lower district wasn't unheard of or exceedingly rare, the implications behind it were less than liked. The upper district weren't just a gaggling group of the prestigious but hopelessly arrogant as well, they were cruel and their positions of power gave them only more avenues to administer this cruelty even further, thus a rift had occured. The upper district saw anything below them as worthless but amusing, the middle class despised them but neither had any desire nor the grit to go against them. And the lower district? They fought for better but without support from above and their protests were met with endless failure.
For this reason Veronica had wanted zero affiliation with her titles and name, she loved her family dearly but her dreams had always centered over doing something worthwhile for a much bigger picture, thus her decision in becoming a civil law servant while using none of her affiliations to rise up the rankings. Ideally she would've also liked to sever ties with her titles and abandon the identity for the period in which she had planned, however, that was almost entirely impossible, such an act would mean having to revoke herself as a member of the Ludunhime family, practically disowning herself which also meant cutting ties with not only her parents and everyone associated with the family but her siblings as well, cutting ties with Ludmilla. That was completely out of the question and Veronica also felt that her status as the next heir could be beneficial in later years, perhaps when she'd grown strong enough to really incite change.
To that end, Veronica had made her identity known to only the person who she'd be working under and that was Detective Beryl Reitz who she'd made aware that she wanted complete and absolute secrecy to her true identity. Macy slowly opened the door and stepped inside, her one arm carrying a plastic bag of what looked to be groceries while the other had a coat slung over it.
"I just came from the store and wasn't expecting you back so early, you made it sound as though I'd have finished cooking and waited here all day!" Melissa protested, her tone having quickly changed from her subservient assistant to a close friend, Veronica chuckled at the quick change.
"Things happened and I came early, nothing much to it" she responded, coming out the bathroom with a towel wrapped around from her chest to knees.
"Something happened?" Macy shot a concerned look but Veronica quickly shook her hands as though not perturbed.
"I'm still getting the hang of my abilities, it wasn't anything serious"
"La–Veraina!!" Macy shouted, "Your affinity is nothing to shake off so lightly, if something happens then the proper measures should be taken in ensuring your safety!"
Veronica smiled wryly, this was the thing about having a maid similar to her in age and having known each other since they were kids, although there were the boundaries of status and etiquette, the two were no different than sisters and Macy's concern for her often had no limits.
"I'm fine, can't you see that?" She made a gesture to her body but Macy was far too close to her not to know where the real problems in her affinity lied.
"Beast's, Dragon's and you" Macy recited, staring at her intently as Veronica sighed.
"I really don't like Ludmilla's long lectures on history" She answered causing a bright smile to play across her face, "You do realize that if I wasn't myself and something had happened to me, I'd still be able to answer that right?"
Macy's smile quickly stiffened, "Well..erm..there are other methods!!"
"Like what?"
"Well I can't tell you now can I? Lest I give some entity the tools to fool me!" Veronica chuckled then smiled before turning to a wardrobe in the room where she sifted for new clothes.
"So what was it? Is it…about what you saw?" Macy asked, seating herself on the bed as Veronica paused for a moment.
"I told him nothing about that, just everything else BUT that" she stared at a dress and then brought it to her shoulders to size up how it would look on her.
"But Veraina!! That goes against your obligations!!" Macy protested, "If they find out you lied…"
"They won't and they never will, there's only one Seer in this God forsaken city and it's me" Any other Seer's weren't even Seer's to begin with, only halflings and combatants.
"Even so…won't it affect the investigation, what if…" Macy trailed off and kept silent as Veronica stared at her with eyes slightly narrowed.
"Ludmilla has nothing to do with this, I won't allow her getting dragged into matters like this before she's even supposed to"
"You saw her there, it means something!" Macy argued, "Vera–Veronica, while I understand your worries are warranted, keeping this away from everyone else may be the sole reason why Ludmilla ends up involved in this somehow"
Veronica glared at the obvious aversion to using her disguise but knew the reason as to why Macy had used her name this time, "Detective Beryl already concluded that the vision points to the assailant perhaps being a blaspheming heretic trying to fix his defective necromancing ability, what do you think he would've concluded if I'd told him Ludmilla was inside that vision too?"
'Much less not with that horror but against it…' she inwardly added and knew Macy had too.
"Even so…"
"Even so, I can't tell them" she concluded, deciding the dress wasn't so bad an outfit, "Ludmilla will stay as far away possible from this as I can do so with my own bare hands, nothing will change my decision"
Hearing this, Macy knew there was no reason for further resistance and turned around to walk to the small kitchen stove implanted in the apartment, "If it's your wish…"
"Don't say it like that, you're mad, I know" Veronica started, her face scrunched and complicated, "It's just that…"
She didn't continue, finding it hard for the words to leave her lips but it was far too late. Like she'd always been able to or perhaps it was simply a delusion that Veronica thought that she could hide her truest feelings deep inside from those close to her, from Macy did she discern exactly what she'd intended to say.
"You don't want to lose control of the situation," Macy nodded, "I understand, the authorities can't be trusted and Ludmilla herself is in a delicate part of her growth"
Veronica looked at her, pained, "I know Mom and Dad could do a lot more protecting than I can—"
"They sure would" Macy interrupted, looking at Veronica as she smiled, "But you feel it your responsibility don't you?"
Veronica clicked her tongue as she looked away, "I won't deny that…"
"Haa, this mentality of yours…" Macy shook her head, now also wearing a pained expression of her own while staring at Veronica, master and friend, "It'll hurt you someday, and I mean really, really hurt you"
"Don't curse me!!" Veronica cried out loud but Macy remained serious.
"I'm only stating the truth of the matter, your mentor has already told me all about you and your antics" she turned and started sifting through the plastic bag of groceries, "I fear that ability of yours has made your desires to help others and protect those around you, far more self destructive than it already was…"
Macy fully kept quiet from there, switching on the stove and preparing the pots and pans as Veronica bit a lip in frustration, "I'm only doing what's necessary"
Macy paused but didn't glance back, "Right, I'm not against it and I never will be"
"You're saying what I want to hear again, just spill it out" Macy grumbled something inaudibly and continued what she'd been doing.
"Just promise me you'll at least listen to reason when you have to"
"Promise" but Macy wasn't done.
"AND, don't lie to me about anything cause you think I'll vehemently refuse, trust me like you always have" She looked back at Veronica, noting that her smile hadn't wavered nor had it stiffened but deepened in delight.
"Trust and reason, gotcha" Veronica nodded then smiled slyly, "But isn't this how we've always been?"
"Well, now I'm reaffirming it so that you never forget" Macy harrumphed as she turned away but a smile was evident, "So are you going to indulge me on your next plans?"
Veronica was a little wide eye'd, surprised that Macy had deduced her worrying intentions to delve into her divinations once again but as she thought about she'd acted over the subject, evasive and affirmative that she had under control while asking no desire for help and Macy's own closeness to her that her emotions and intentions were laid bare no matter how many layers of mystery she placed on and it wasn't surprising.
She sighed, "I…I'm going back to the lower District"
The room went silent.
Veronica then stared at Macy incredulously as she noticed her body had stiffened and frozen that she decided to explain herself, "I need to delve deeper into what I saw,...I need to affirm that it was indeed—"
Suddenly she heard small and barely audible chuckling coming from Macy ahead and furrowed her brows, "Macy..—"
"You did a great job mimicking her words and actions" Macy suddenly spoke, "But not even the Young Lady would do something so idiotic"
"Idiotic!?" Veronica cried but was dumbstruck as Macy's wand flickered into view.
"I am truly far too gullible, what would her parents say…"
"Wait, Macy, it's really me!! Put that down!!" Veronica backed herself to the closet as a hue of pinkish light appeared on the tip of Macy's wand, "Macy!!!!"
***
The city of Luran was wide and expansive, tall buildings of varying retro designs slightly clustered with the overpopulation of billboard advertising and it was quite the sight, a telltale sign of the kind of era they were living in, one of ingenuity and new ideas, a golden age of sorts. Many buildings seemed to be fitted in neon signs of different colorings, fonts and designs that one could very much guess and feel a little anxious to see the place when the sun settled down; it was a wonder to behold.
Macy held a hand out in an anxious display of a need for a cab having stood by the sidewalks of a busy street road for about half an hour now, the cars however didn't pay no mind and the cabs seemed quite filled already, passing by like this for what felt like ages.
"We can just walk, you know?"
"As if!! Do you know how long that'll take? And I've been walking ever since you left to go relay what you found to Beryl"
Veronica visibly rolled her eyes, still caressing the area's where Macy's spells had landed.
'The damn monster-'
"Ah! Here comes one!" Macy shouted as Veronica looked over find a bright yellow And black vehicle pulling up beside them as Macy quickly opened the door and hopped inside with Veronica in tow.
"Heading?" The driver asked as Macy prompted Veronica to answer.
"Haggard's Road" There was a clear feeling of a change in mood as Veronica said.
"Mind if I ask why? I don't very much drive people that far, much less to a district lower than theirs…" Veronica however was ready for this and answered coolly.
"I actually came to visit, this was a benefactor of mine" she glanced at Macy, "She's been trying to get me a job up here, proud to say I got it"
"Ah, that's rare!" He stared back at Macy and smiled, "Never met people like ya"
"It's only the right thing to do"
The car ride went smoothly from there, practically any movement of higher residents towards the lower district was frowned upon, although the nobility, on more occasions than one regularly humoured themselves with such practices, it was different for members of the middle district.
Traitors!!
Fools!!
Slaves!!
Were a short list of many names given to the middle district by those below and the ire that met anyone of such status that decided to wander into its borders was palpable, Veronica could discern from the man's tone and speach that if anything he was a former delegate of the lower district, his form of speech wasn't all that refined, there was a level of short cutted words and an accent that told of an early starting education. The lower district were the bottom of the barrel after all, a class although no longer called by the name for fear of external retaliation it was still as clear as day what exactly they were, peasants…
For this reason a certain amount of contempt had been thrown their way when they'd mentioned visiting a street in the lower district being that they lived up here, Veronica's own attempt at acting like a member of the lower district was rigid and otherwise rusty but her mistakes could be attributed to having been associated with a member of the middle district for so long so the man let it slide. At this point they'd been on the road and highways for a long while, the building's becoming less vibrant and beautiful to dilapidated and a little old.
"So, the new job.." Veronica heard the man ask, glancing at his rear view mirror, "Er, I know it's a little personal to ask but it's…just that…"
"Cleaning is all" Veronica answered coolly, resting her chin on her palm as she watched stared at the windows to the sceneries passing by.
"Cleaning ay? Hehe, guess I should tell mum they be looking for those kinds of skills now" the man chuckled, Veronica's gaze and his meeting in the rear view mirror for only a moment.
"She..she been looking to leave that place for a while now ya know?" The man continued as Veronica frowned, glancing at Macy who also seemed to catch on to the implications in his words.
"I see, it's truly unfo–" Veronica nudged Macy with a leg, away from the man's view and glared, "Wh-What I mean is, I'll look into..erm..finding her a place.."
"Hahaha, that's sweet of ya" his expression softened as Veronica leaned into the the seats of the car.
"We have to work together don't we?"
By the time the two stepped foot onto the cold, damp and concreted grounds of Luran's lower district where the air ran thick in mixed stenches, did Macy look over at Veronica with skepticism as she waved an enthusiastic arm goodbye.
"Don't forget, two hours from now at the latest!"
"Won't forget!" The man pulled away and left as Veronica turned around to see Macy's dumbstruck expression.
"What's wrong?" She raised a brow.
"Was that all necessary?" Macy asked as Veronica shrugged.
"Would he have believed us if I didn't go that far?"
"Yes! Most probably!! Veraina, you made me promise to find his mother a job!!"
"We can compensate for that somehow"
"Somehow?!!" Macy cried, "it's a two person apartment we live in!! I don't even go outside much for crying out loud and I'm the maid, I don't need a second!"
"Worry about that later, right now we've got to get back to that crime scene and perform the divination again" Veronica cut in, causing Macy's brows to furrow.
"Do you really think anything will change? If whatever you saw there—"
"Realizes I'm looking again and whatnot, I might die, go mad or suffer a fate far worse" She made her gaze stern, reaffirming that there was no going back, "I know but that's why you're here right?"
Macy didn't immediately answer as she groaned in displeasure, "Sometimes I feel like you take advantage of my kind will…"
Veronica smiled and started walking, "It's this way"
The lower district was depressing, that's the impression anyone would have while walking down its roads, pristine only by virtue that cat cars never graced its surface but the padding of human feet. The streets were quiet and on the occasion could one hear the rustling and scurrying of rodent filth, streams of trash littering parts of the pave walk with the occasional passer-by's wearing dead faces that the two felt was unnerving. The further they walked and the more of these people that they met, all empty husks, others seemingly suffering from things such as disease or hunger and it was a wonder just how these people held more vigour and grit to commit crimes of radical nature in retaliation of their oppressors.
"This place…" Macy's gaze narrowed as they passed by an alleyway housing a small group of people huddled in hushed conversation.
"Courtesy of the higher ups, some of this is done intentionally" Veronica commented as they continued walking, her gaze sifting over the buildings and making turns as she tried to remember her way back.
"Isn't it all?" Said Macy then glancing at Veronica, "You're awfully emotional, I can't tell whether its disgust you sometimes feel for them or anger that they live like such"
"You know exactly which it is" Veronica answered, still in a tone laced with venom as Macy smiled helplessly.
"Of course, our soft hearted young Lady"
"I get it"
After what felt like twenty minutes of walking and idle conversation did the two finally reach a part of the lower district littered in yellow tape with the "police" written in black, the two obviously bi-passed this and entered as Veronica took double takes on their surroundings which Macy noticed.
"Should we be careful of something?" She asked.
"Of course, careful we haven't been followed or that someone's here" she answered as they traversed the area of clustered old and damaged housing areas.
"I see…" Macy followed suit in checking the area as they continued.
At this point it was increasingly becoming clear why this was a crime scene, the ground they'd been traversing across now turning a certain hue of reddish grey that shifted more and more to pure and bright red as this color became splattered and blotched in countless areas other than the ground, it was horrific. The first body they came across was a man whose face had crushed and mangled with one of his limbs missing and a hunched by a broken wall with spider web like cracks embedded into it where the man's crushed head rested, seemingly having been the cause of why his face appeared so.
The next was a woman although Veronica only knew it was a woman because she'd been briefed before on nearly every body here, their names, genders and experiences to better help with her divina, in actuality, the woman's corpse that was littered in scars that were both numerous and unsettling could barely be attributed to looking human anymore. Veronica had indeed been impressed and unnerved by the authorities capabilities to discern what gender she was, much less who she was as well.
For about ten minutes, as they walked across this pavement did the brutality and violence of the crime increase further and further till Veronica glanced back and found Macy expression both horrified and disgusted. It was like a scene she'd never seen before, the corpses that laid as mangled pieces of flesh, soaked blood and their innard shown had been murdered in such a way that didn't speak of the killers desire for simply blood she'd but the art and joy they took pride in it.
Some scenes of carnage became unsettling symbols and elegy's that made no sense, had no meaning but the amount of time taken to create them was evident and the joy that was taken in doing it, even more so.
"Don't try and make sense of it, none of it does" Veronica warned Macy who looked at the art pieces in both horror and contemplation.
"But…would anyone do this for fun?" Macy asked but Veronica didn't allow her to delve deeper into the matter.
"A madman, and it's best not to try and make sense of the deranged, we're almost there.."
As they drew nearer to the area of which Veronica described did Macy notice the change in the art work, from holding a sense of chaotic and vile nature did it become calm and serene, in the most unsettling and disgusting manner of course. The corpses became less mangled but also more unsettling, now one being able to discern the expressions they had before death and Macy noticed that they were all…elated…
A line was of snake like form, made by the bodies of these deceased and many more lines seemed to flowing to the center of something which, as they drew finally made contact with where Veronica had spent a good three to four days in seclusion and divination did Macy take a step back in horror.
In the center of the area of carnage, the center of that symbol followed by dozens of snake-like lines of corpses was a circle made with more of them, like an altar of sorts with its middle…
"Don't read anymore into it than I already have…" Veronica said.
"Veraina…no, Lady Veronica…isn't that…"
It was the letter "V" written in bold crimson.