A Bad Word Whispered Will Echo A Hundred Miles [Marschal Leigh]

Job Description:

“Package for. . . a Marschal Leigh Abadeer?” the mailman called out as he entered Silver Moon Inn and blankly looked at the words written on the package to know who it was addressed to.

Marschal glanced up from his glass of red wine, a delicious Cabernet Sauvignon, to stare curiously at the mailman with the box. He hardly ever got mail; in fact, it was so rare for him to get anything addressed in his name that this came as an automatic surprise to him. Slowly, the magus stood to his feet, setting the glass of wine down and walking diligently over to the delivery man with a distorted look upon his features. “I’m Marschal Leigh Abadeer,” the man answered the postman, stopping in front of him, but never changing his confused facial expression. The mailman quickly handed him the package and scanned it with a strange scanning device, muttering a few things under his breath. Taking the package from the man, Marschal didn’t say a word as he juggled to change the box’s weight from both hands to one hand in order to sign a digital piece of paper. Afterward, the postman bowed to him and ran back out the door like he was in some kind of hurry to get his route done as if he had things to do, which was doubtful.

Sighing, Marschal turned away from the door to Silver Moon Inn and walked toward the staircase that led up to one of the floors with bedrooms, leaving his glass of wine behind. As he ascended the stairs, the contents of the box rattled around inside and his ears perked forward, the clinking sounds catching his attention. He turned the corner and stopped at the first door in the hallway, turning the knob with one hand, then pushing it open with his feet. Marschal plopped the large box down onto the bed and stared at it, at first not daring to open the tape that held it closed. After a few minutes had passed by of simply staring at the box with no sender’s name on it, let alone a return address, he used one of his claws to tear off the tape. Opening each side, his golden irises would come face-to-face with a hardcover book and what looked to be a voice recording lacrima. Eyebrows scrunched together, Marschal dug into the back with one hand and took out the hardcover book, blowing on it to get rid of the dust.

The initials “S.M.” appeared on the cover, which made him even more confused as he did not know anyone by the initials of S.M. Quietly, he plucked open the cover of the book and turned to its first page, discovering that it wasn’t just a fictional novel, but “S.M.’s” personal diary. His eyes scanned over the written words, discovering that it was mostly smeared with a red liquid, of which Marschal could only assume was blood. However, he was able to make out the first entry of the diary, his face changing in emotion the farther he read the book’s contents.

"12 February, Day 647.
Today was a fun day. Mary and I went on a picnic near the forest and spent the whole day talking about meaningless things. It really was a blissful experience and since she didn't have any problems today we were able to forget about reality, even if for just a day."

"19 February, Day 654.
It happened again. Mary collapsed again today and started mumbling about magical gates and how everything is going to be a nightmare. This is happening more and more often and I am getting really concerned now. No doctor knows what's wrong with her..."

"25 February, Day 660.
This is really getting out-of-hand! With each passing day, Mary becomes more and more delirious. I don't know what to do anymore. I've contacted every doctor and every magus I could find, but no one knows what's wrong with her. There has to be someone that can help..."

"1 March, Day 664.
This is my last hope. I contacted an exorcist who is said to be able to cure cases like Mary's. He's going to come tomorrow night. Maybe the end of this nightmare would finally come."

"2 March, Day 665.
It's a little before midnight now. The priest is going to come any minute and put Mary's troubled mind to peace once again."

"3 March, Day 666.
I... don't believe it. I remember last night... the purification ceremony... then something happened and I was sent flying, and Mary ran away towards the Spooky Forest. When I came to, the priest was lying on the ground with his heart gouged out. What on Earth happened last night? There's no time to waste, I know she's somewhere in the forest so I have to find her. I'll contact a couple friends from the Rune Knights and we'll set off to search for her. Please be okay, my love..."

He wasn’t sure what to make of the written words and simply closed the diary, blinking a few times before setting it down on the bed. Reaching into the box again, he pulled out the voice recording lacrima, turning it around in his hand to inspect it like he had the diary. It was covered in blood like the diary was, ultimately worrying him on where it had come from and why it had been sent to him.

Imbuing some of his magic power into the crystal, he activated the voice lacrima and let it play out what had been recorded on it.

"Date- 4 March. Time- 1:43 PM.
This is Lieutenant Jacob Lars, recording an audio log to document the investigation and search. I am assigned due to my expertise in the field of demonology. It seems that a woman has been possessed by an unknown type of entity, presumably a type of demon, and has escaped in the Spooky Forest. We are currently within the said forest ourselves, having a local guide us through. For some reason when we entered it a thick, almost unnatural, fog descended upon us but we were capable of navigating through the dense vegetation regardless. Currently, we are standing in a forest clearing about 2 klicks north of the entrance. So far there's no sight of neither hostiles nor the woman. It's unnaturally quiet. A bad omen."

"Date- 4 March. Time- 2:30 PM.
This is Lieutenant Jacob Lars documenting the investigation and search for the possessed woman in the Spooky Forest. This is log number two. It's been nearly an hour since the previous log and we've spent the time delving further north into the forest. It's crazy here. Everywhere you look there are huge trees and if you look up there is nothing but branches and leaves. The vegetation on the higher levels of the forest is incredibly dense, so there barely is any light down on ground level. It almost feels like we're alone in another world with no way out, and that damn fog isn't helping either. All this is taking it's toll on the minds of the others.
We're nearing another clearing. I guess we'll rest there for a while."

"Date- 4 March. Time- 2:45 PM.
This is Lieutenant Jacob Lars documenting the investigation. This is audio log number three. Things are not looking good. The others are getting seriously paranoid and I can't really blame them. This place plays with your mind in a very freaky way. A few minutes ago we continued moving deeper into the forest, following our course north. The guys are really getting worried now. They say that every now and then they see someone's silhouette in the distance, just beyond the fog, watching them. Observing their every move. I have yet to confirm the existence of this shadow, but if it is there then it might be the woman we were sent to find. Next time the silhouette makes an appearance we'll go after it."

"Date- 4 March. Time- 666:666 PM.
*The sound of someone's ragged breath mixed with their crazed running could be heard for several minutes. After that the barely audible thud, as if someone being hit against a tree, interrupts the running*
This is Leu*static*nt Jacob *pant* Lars. We *static*eed help! We...we got sep*static*ed and the *static* took us out *pant* one by one. It's b*static*n watching us all along! Tor*static*ring us while studying it's *pant* prey. It's close, *static* the only one left *static* coming f*static* me. *static* *static* *static* the time *static* thre *static* ourty-five."

Unfortunately, as the lacrima came to its end, Marschal found that the static on it became too much and he couldn’t understand the rest of it. A shiver ran down his spine as he set the lacrima down and next to the diary, staring down at it with the same confused expression he had since the arrival of the postman. Whatever had happened to this Rune Knight was not good, and that meant as a magus, and as one of the new Rising Stars, it was his job to find out. “Why do they always think it’s okay to send me shit like this? I mean, come on, I’m just a simple magus living my life to the fullest,” he muttered to himself. Frowning, Marschal stuck the items back into the back and closed it back up, tossing it to the side and exiting the room to head out into Rose Garden. If he was given this job for a reason, he might as well do the job the right damn way and head out to Spooky Forest like the good, old magus he was.

*Several hours later*

Standing in front of the desolate forest, Marschal stared into the dark depths of the supposedly terrifying woods and swallowed a lump in his throat. An ominous fog rolled out from the dense foliage, and he had to take a deep breath in, in order to not feel his knees quake beneath him. Hesitantly, Marschal entered the white abyss, leaving behind all that he knew and would likely never return to if it was as bad of a job as it seemed. Already as he was sucked into the whiteness, Marschal found that his feline senses did not work as properly as they had before. He was blindly walking the forest, using his sense of smell and touch in order to guide himself along on the mission and through the woods. Minutes passed by and he was beginning to feel that he was simply walking in circles, as no sound or strange apparition had appeared yet. However, he was quite wrong, for the second he thought that nothing would appear, a deep moaning sound emitted through the forest.

He shudders at the thought, jumping like a cat when a person’s scream echoes in the atmosphere, no origin to be found. Breathing in deeply, Marschal tries to compose himself and move on through the forest, searching for any evidence of the former Rune Knights. By now, the moans and the random bouts of screaming have been drowned out by the male in his search for the missing diary papers or anything for that matter. As it was only one or two sounds every so often, Marschal didn’t pay much mind to them, not finding them as terrifying as they had been when he first heard them. Moving along through the forest, he lowered himself onto all fours and began wandering around as if he was a true feline of the woods. His nose was extended forward, searching out the smells that were estranged and not as natural as the musky wood and wet fog. Marschal nearly jumped out of his skin when a voice seemingly whispered behind him, but when he whirled around, no one was there.

His lip curled up in disgust as another whisper came about his ear, whirling him around on his toes to face the opposite direction. It murmured for a third time in another direction, sending him skittering along the ground and deeper into the forest. A scream echoed into the dense trees, one that sounded more horrified and bloodied than any of the others he had formerly heard. Something clicked in a tree and Marschal’s head snapped in that direction, his body forcing him to a halt as he looked for the assailant. Creaking sounds could be heard, moaning all around him, his ears flattening against his head in order to keep the sounds out, but it wasn’t working. Slowly, he was being pushed back against a tree, where his rump bumped into the trunk and he jolted, lifting himself to his feet. Pinned to a tree, he had no other place to go other than to listen to the moans and screams, while random rocks were thrown at him.

Marschal glanced upward as a loud groaning came from above, a shiver running down his spine like he was fearful of seeing what was up there. As he looked up, he noticed that the tree he was standing in front of was swaying back and forth until it began to sway in only one direction. With the tree bearing down on him, the magus dropped to all fours again and darted off in a different direction in order to avoid being crushed. The tree slammed into the ground with a heavy sound, echoing in the foggy woods as the only current sound to terrify the male. Not wanting to stay here any longer, Marschal charged along the forest floor in order to find his way back out of the dense foliage. However, he had a feeling that no matter which way he turned or how far he ran, he would never be able to break through the trees. All he had to do was hope and pray that the longer he ran and the more twists and turns he took, it would eventually lead him to safety.

This forest was no longer a welcoming place to magi, not when there was a possessed woman roaming the forest and searching out victims. He did not want to become her next victim and unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to find anything that gave more information on the Rune Knights. Unfortunately, those men’s souls would have to rest eternally damned in the forest, haunting the woods and hoping the right magi came to help. Sucking in a deep breath, Marschal leaped over a log and darted along the ground, looking both ways as his mind was mentally disturbed by the strange sounds. Occasionally, he shook his head as if to rid himself of the annoying sounds that, even though he shook his head, never left him. Marschal wanted to wail out and cry for help, for someone to come get him and drag him from the forest, from this endless nightmare. Yet, he knew that he was a 24-year-old man, he was brave enough to withstand the echoing sounds, no matter how eerie they sounded.

Unexpectedly, his hand slammed down into a hole, sending him tumbling to the ground and rolling down a hillside. He never remembered climbing a hill to get deeper into the forest, but after so long of searching and running from sounds, it wasn’t impossible. When he came to a halt, the magus groaned and looked around, rubbing his wrist with his free hand in spite of the immense pain. It was highly likely that he had broken his wrist from the crazed run he was in, not entirely watching where he had been going. Holding his wrist close to his side, the man slowly stood back to his feet and looked around at his surroundings to see where he was. Unfortunately, he didn’t recognize where he was but figured that if he was going downhill, then he was likely close to the end. Pushing forth, the young man headed down the slope and glanced around, hoping that he wouldn’t see anything that made those terrifying sounds.

Luckily, nothing was around him from what he could tell; it was just simple whiteness that coated his vision and the foliage around him. Glancing down at his feet, the man walked solemnly through the forest, noticing that the moans had stopped and returned to complete silence. In all honesty, he liked hearing those moans as it meant that the forest was not as dead as when he had first arrived at its borders. Now that he was nearing the end of the forest, he began to realize that the woods were as empty as they were when he first entered. Nothing had ever been here and if there was anything around, it was not showing itself to him as much as he wanted it to. He was grateful for that in a way, too terrified to have really done any decent battling against the supposed possessed woman that was in here. Letting out a sigh of relief, Marschal pushed past some of the shrubberies and skidded down the rest of the slope before coming to the end.

A shiver ran down his spine as even if he had wanted to look back, something was stopping him from turning around to look. So, instead of looking over his shoulder to make sure that nothing was there, he simply spread some of the leaves and stepped through. His eyes squinted against the blaring sun, having never realized until now just how densely thick the forest had actually been. How the Rune Knights navigated the forest on there own, in spite of being normal humans, was beyond what he could comprehend. As a man with yōkai blood running through his veins, it was a miracle his heightened senses were even able to guide him through. He was out now, though, so it didn’t matter to him any longer; he was just happy that he was able to get out of the forest, safe and sound. Breathing in the fresh air of the open world, Marschal began walking through the field that led up to Spooky Forest, heading back home.