Elven City
"Lady El... Steel Magnolia, is it really okay not to look for Mr. Fraril and Grash?" Raiana asked, following Eliz, who turned and headed deeper into the strange elven city.
Eliz looked at her ring again and frowned. "Can't be helped. We had no way of finding them. It'll be alright. They were both capable... well... Fraril for sure. Grash... he was good at surviving." Eliz was naturally not carefree and worried about them, but just as she said. She didn't know how to find them, and aimlessly searching seemed unwise.
She trusted that they could take care of themselves and didn't need her breathing down their necks. After all, Eliz collected capable people precisely so they could think for themselves and not so she had to care for them like they were stray animals.
Olliena followed them from behind and listened to their conversation. The frown never left her face, for she didn't trust these strangers. Especially Steel Magnolia, who had nearly ruined her Brigade's rapturization. However, she had to admit that it was a bit overwhelming how Steel Magnolia played the abused and unhappy woman, but once they walked out of Headquarters she completely changed her expression.
The strange thing was that despite this great change in Steel Magnolia's attitude, the others still looked at Olliena as an evil villain. Olliena wanted to scream in frustration asking if they weren't blind and couldn't see that Magnolia had been playing it all along!
"Your friends will be fine. Our city is safe." She announced and then a muscle in her cheek twitched as Steel Magnolia responded.
"Pffff!" Eliz sputtered mockingly, glancing back at the pretty female elf. "Safe? You really think so, don't you?"
Olliena frowned even more. "What do you mean?"
Eliz shrugged and turned away. Sure, elves were known for their gentle nature, despite being somewhat racist, so they were more just passive aggressive. Though given Eliz's first experience it might not have seemed that way, but their reaction was understandable given the sudden appearance of Eliz and her group in their carefully guarded utopia.
But Eliz was a skeptic. She didn't believe there were no 'evil' elves. That a city of this size didn't face problems like every other city and society. Didn't Elves also have dreams, goals and ambitions for which they were willing to step on others? "Nothing. I just find it hilarious that the local defense commander thinks her city is running smoothly." Eliz just replied.
She wasn't going to elaborate any further. Eliz wasn't there to look for and solve any more problems after all. She just wanted to go kick Shannon, take her reward, and quickly disappear into the Blue Rose estate so she could continue with her plans.
She shook her head and looked at Raiana. "Don't worry about Fraril and Grash. They'll be fine," she finally assured Raiana before returning her gaze to Olliena. "So, how did we get to the World Tree? Where can we go?" She asked bluntly.
Olliena didn't move a muscle at the question. "I don't know what you're talking about. There's no..."
"Don't give me that. I don't really have the mood or the time to listen to the bullshit about him not being here," Eliz interrupted her, attempting to avoid what had happened with Draikini.
Olliena blinked once before replying. "I really don't know what you're talking about," Eliz insisted, sighing, then turning her head thoughtfully before smiling at Olliena. "If you say so~"
Holm, Alarr, Raiana, and Alobela looked at Eliz when they saw her smile. They already knew that expression. She was planning something. "Alright then. Where could I find someone in charge here? An elder? At least you can say that much, right?" Eliz asked carelessly.
Olliena was also wary that Steel Magnolia had given up so quickly, but she couldn't think of a reason. She sighed and nodded her head before heading to the front of the group. "Follow me," she said, leading them to where the Elders resided.
Eliz glanced back at Olliena, and a smirk appeared on her face.
*****
Sewer
Grash felt a little insulted. He was used to being told he was stupid, weird, reckless, etc., but even Mori had never told him he was retarded! He raised his hand and clenched his fist, threatening them. "Shut up, you bastards! You're the ones who are retarded! Your whole family is retarded!" He said angrily.
The siblings began to giggle at Grash's childish tantrum. If their family is retarded and they called Grash their brother, doesn't that still mean it applies to him?
Grash let his hand drop again and snorted. "You're the ones who don't know anything. Kitty is a sympathizer of the Dark God and will bring him back to life. She has a brilliant plan!"
Bortea and Bartolomeo stopped sneering and looked at Grash curiously. Fraril took a step towards Grasch and smacked him on the back of the head. "Shut the hell up!" He hissed at him. He didn't know much about this plan or if there was even such a thing, but Grash was spilling information to someone who was definitely not their ally!
Grash rubbed the spot where he had been hit and glared at Fraril. "What now? What's wrong!?"
Fraril pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I'll tell Eliz that you're carelessly spreading information about her."
As soon as he said that, it took Grash a moment to figure it out, and he looked startled. "Oh-uh. No! Please! Don't do that! Otherwise, she'll definitely suck me dry!" he begged.
But Fraril ignored Grash and focused on the twins again. Even if they weren't aggressive at the moment, Fraril didn't believe these two had any intention of letting them go. His enhanced senses detected the delicate tension in their bodies, noticing the subtle movements of their fingers and the soft flow of mana that was invisible to the naked eye.
"What are you two trying to do here? Why have you created such a ridiculous accusation?" Fraril asked, ignoring the whimpering Grash.
Bortea and Bartolomeo just smiled in response, and Fraril knew he would learn nothing from them. Unfortunately, he had to run into the kind of people who were smart enough not to reveal their plans.
"Ho," Fraril exhaled in amusement and shook his head before moving in a flash. He tilted his torso to the side as he jumped, and throwing daggers appeared in his hands, which he immediately filled with mana and threw behind him where the siblings were slowly gathering their puppets.
Four throwing daggers flew out and found their mark. Two puppets were hit in the head and the other two hit some part of the body. Once the daggers hit the puppets' bodies, they exploded in a minor flash of mana, but still strong enough to take most of the puppets' heads or bodies off.
Grash needed no explanation or warning and sprang into action as well. He leapt forward, and while still in the air, his body transformed into a large black cat.
His front legs were pointed forward with his claws extended, which he dug into the body of another marionette, knocking down two more puppets with his large body.
"Grash, we must retreat!" Fraril called out as he dove into the gap Grash had created. As they spoke, the twins in the entrance behind them had gathered quite a few of their puppets. Fraril suspected that controlling that many puppets wasn't easy and that was probably why they were holding back on talking. Fraril was just disappointed that they couldn't find out more information, but there was nothing to be done.
He had no intention of fighting the twins directly; they were on their playground in the first place, and the amount of dolls they owned was alarming, with unknown capabilities. Fraril was far too old to jump into things blindly headfirst.
Fraril was confident in his abilities to get away, the problem was Grash, who seemed to enjoy the confrontation and dwelled too much on fighting the marionettes. "Grash!" Barked Fraril, who was almost out thanks to his speed and grace.
"Wraauu! Oh yeah!" Grash had a smile on his feline face, but reluctantly he let go of the game and bounced off the puppet, stepping on the head of another before bouncing off again and quickly joining Fraril.
They both turned and started running towards the exit. Fraril paid attention to what was happening behind them, but the marionettes did not pursue. However, he didn't believe things would be that easy.
When they ran through the place where the elven twins had settled earlier, they suddenly jumped to their feet and hurried after them like normal persons. Fraril threw more mana-infused throwing daggers at them, but the twins dodged them. These puppets were much better controlled, and Fraril knew these were meant for fighting.
Grash and Fraril ran back into the sewer corridor, but the twins didn't pursue them any further. In fact, they quickly closed the iron door behind them and the hairs on the back of Fraril's neck stood up. He knew what was going to happen; after all, it was something he had already thought of.
"Faster!" He called to Grash, who was bouncing happily beside him. Fraril fortified himself with mana and dashed forward at lightning speed, Grash mimicking him and lagging just a little behind.
Grash heard it before he saw it, looked behind them, and bulged his eyes. His form instantly changed back to human, and he sped up even more. "Those bastards! Shit!" He cursed as he saw a large wave of water rushing after him. The siblings seemed to be trying to drown them, and given how long they had been through the tunnels before, they were having a hard time keeping up with their breathing.
Fraril smiled grimly. "You really didn't think of that when you saw the iron door?"
"Well... now that you mention it...." Grash replied slowly, but Fraril shook his head.
"Take a big breath, boy," Fraril said before pulling out two more daggers. "And get a good grip on something!" He called out before slamming the daggers violently into the wall. Using mana, they dug into the stone up to the hilt, and Fraril wrapped his body in mana before bracing himself for the impact.
"What!" Grash called out, glancing back at him before he too walked over to the wall, his fingers coated in dark mana that formed into claws, which he dug into the wall and closed his eyes tightly.
The mana that surrounded them protected them from the devastating impact of the mass of water. Another person would have been crushed and their bones broken by the force, but this way when the water hit them they were only surrounded by the pulling force of the water trying to sweep them along.
Both Fraril and Grash held tightly to the wall until the pull of the water eased, and then only Fraril let go, rolled over in the water, and began to swim quickly. When Grash saw him, he also let go and started swimming after him, feeling unhappy. He didn't like the water.
Fraril kept his eyes closed and used his enhanced senses as sonar. He was releasing waves of mana from his body and using his inner sight to guide himself forward to find the right way out.
They rounded another bend, and he released the mana pulse again as he sensed something following them. He motioned with his hand to Grash, who looked back and mentally swore. Three more puppets were approaching them, swimming like fish in water. Their bodies wove gracefully and swam much faster than they did.
Fraril was alarmed. He believed they would hold their breath until they could get out of the sewers, but if they were delayed by the fight, it would start to get dangerous for them.
He pondered, and then Fraril stopped swimming. He signaled Grash to continue while he raised his hand. His bracelet glowed, and a small vortex appeared which he reached into. This was his dimensional space where he carried his equipment.
He quickly pulled out a small orb, which he squeezed and activated with mana before throwing it forward and began to swim away quickly.
He only had time to swim a few meters before a muffled explosion sounded behind him, and the force of the blast hit him in the back, but only knocked him harmlessly over before he rebalanced his body and continued swimming.
Grash gave him a thumbs up when he saw the explosion. The ball had exploded with enough force to damage the surrounding stone and blow away or tear apart the dolls that were chasing them.
They swam, but barely a few yards when Fraril was warned again. The dolls may have been destroyed, but that didn't mean they were neutralized as a threat. They were being chased by parts of the dolls that hadn't been completely destroyed by the blast.
Fraril bared his sharp teeth in annoyance; it was too close to use another bomb.
Fraril pulled out another dagger, but this time he just swung it from side to side, and a wave saturated with his mana surged forward. He didn't wait for the result and swam again, seeing that Grash was far ahead of him. He gritted his teeth inwardly.
That bastard wasn't even waiting for him or trying to help.
Fortunately, it seemed that finally nothing was chasing them, but there was another problem. Fraril began to run out of oxygen. Using mana was like breathing, having to use it several times underwater had taken away from his oxygen supply, which he was now running low on.
Fraril could tell easily by the way his movements were heavier and his thoughts slower. He pushed forward even though his brain was telling him it wouldn't be enough. The exit was still a long way away.
His field of vision was shrinking to the point that he finally couldn't even see Grash in front of him, and he mentally cursed himself for putting himself in this situation. His body began to twitch as it fought against the lack of air. He never thought drowning would be the death of him; his wolf instincts were unsatisfied. He wanted to die fighting like every other member of the wolf race.
His narrowed senses registered that Grash had returned. He swam quickly towards Fraril, who was a little dumbfounded to see that Grash had a bubble of black mana around his mouth and nose. "That bastard..." Fraril thought, and wanted to hit the cat again.
Grash grabbed Fraril by the shoulders and removed the dark mana from his face to reveal his unhappily twisted expression. Leaning forward, Fraril rolled his blind eyes as he felt Grash's lips on his lips. And then he gulped in air.
That sweet, sweet air.
*****
Some time later, they were both lying on the edge of the river, wet and panting. Grash was in much better condition than Fraril, who had nearly deflated under the water and was lying on his back.
Grash sat nearby, carefully wiping his mouth with his wet clothes, exposing his muscular stomach.
"Never...." Fraril groaned after a moment. "We'll never... never... tell anyone about this."
Grash nodded before using his tail to wring out the water. "Absolutely. If Kitty found out, she'd never stop mentioning it."
They were both silent for a moment, dealing with what had happened. Fraril finally calmed down and sat up as well. "I owe you one."
Grash shrugged. "As long as you don't tell Eliz I've been running my mouth, then that's enough."
Fraril stood and shook himself like a dog to shake as much water off as possible. "Hey!" Grash protested as the spray of water hit him as well.
Fraril ignored Grash's swearing. "Let's go find the others."
*****
Sewer
Some time later, Bortea and Bartolomeo walked out of the small room into the larger one where their marionettes were deserted, and both looked up at the ceiling. It was hard to see, but there were many bodies hanging in the darkness of the high ceiling.
"They don't seem to have noticed," Bortea said.
"Just as we had hoped. They probably think they made a lucky escape," Bartolomeo replied.
The two siblings raised their hands, and blue mana intertwined with dark mana began to leak from their palms and fingers, and like tendrils, they reached the ceiling, which brightened a little with it and something began to descend.
Three glassy bronze tubes descended slowly to the sound of clinking chains and turning gears. Beneath each of the tubes, bodies were hung carefully side by side, one sitting on each side. Each of the bodies was connected by a hose to the tube, and so all were kept alive even though the oldest ones already bore signs of dehydration and malnutrition.
The two siblings checked all the captives before meeting up with the two new captives they had acquired. One of them had black hair with cat ears, and the other was an older man with white hair and a beard, along with wolf ears.
"Hehehe," Bortea gave a short laugh, and Bartolomeo joined her.