DOES THE WOLF APOLOGIZE? ♣ exam

“Seems to me you’re very lost, Lucie. Can’t find your way out?”

The familiar voice made Lucie pause in her tracks, her whole body tensing up. She knew his voice all too well, but had not heard it in many months, and for good reason. The Daemon had devoured his soul, consuming the entirety of what he was. Why was she hearing him now? Had she finally lost all grasp of her sanity?

“You’ve been wandering for months now, and still can’t find your way out of this hellhole. How pathetic you are without me.”

The raven-haired girl clenched her teeth at the words of the malevolent spirit. He was right, she had been moving around for too many days to accurately count. Ever since she had lost herself in Shinku, she had been wandering. After her mission with the god of blood, Chaoris, and the kasha nekomata, Fluffy, she had been stranded in Shinku. The obvious solution was to retrace her steps and make her way back to the Wakusei Portal. But despite having done that, Lucie found herself effectively lost, with no way back to earthland in sight. She continued to wander, only to no longer find herself in the dark and gloomy atmosphere of Shinku, but instead a fiery, unstable realm, only discernible as a plane that was not of the physical realms, but of the astral worlds.

“Why so tense? Haven’t you missed me, Lucie?” the malevolent spirit’s voice continued audibly in Lucie’s mind as she grimaced, shaking her head as if it could dislodge him from her train of thought. “How are you here? I killed you…” Lucie asked telepathically, trying to keep her wits about her out of habit, for fear of Ren taking over.

“You really know nothing about yourself, do you? Without me, you’re as hopeless as ever. You successfully evolved into a Daemon, like your mother. Partially, that is. A lost soul that devours the souls of others, and gains their powers and attributes. If not balanced, the souls you eat could lead to your undoing. You consumed me, but you failed to realize a little trick of my own. A curse your dear mother put on me,” Ren explained in a carefree, smiling tone while figuratively shrugging. “I can’t disappear or die or stop existing. Trust me, dear, I’ve tried. I can only live many painful existences until I bring an end to the Daemon, Alice. Your mother.”

“Then why are you still here with me?” Lucie mentally lashed back out, not fully understanding. She knew the gist of what a mother was, but never knew a thing about her own. Did she have a family? All she knew was that she was a lost soul, wandering, doomed to be alone. Any chances she had at a family were long gone, with Fairy Tail finally being rid of her. Whenever it came to the concept of family, Ren had a knack for driving her way from ever being a part of one. “I’m not completely free of you. I’m barely here, still tied to your soul which is trying to consume me again, even now. But enough about me-- it seems you got yourself into quite the pickle. Let me guess, the only reason you’ve survived being here this long is because you’ve stolen the souls of the natives, and have taken on their nature. A being of fire, chaos, and instability. A walking explosion that brings about disastrous after-effects. Am I wrong?”

“What does it matter?” Lucie questioned the talkative spirit aloud, scowling at his words. Indeed she had consumed the souls of the giants of stone and fire and frost. Out of hunger, but also out of desire and instinct, it merely felt right to do so at the time, and the Daemon had yet to regret the action. She knew that Ren’s words were right, and that he had little chance of being free from her. He was barely there, likely struggling for every word he uttered.

“You should read the ingredients of your meal before just devouring it. This is a realm where the souls that exist here are anchored to the plane. You don’t see these fire giants out and about in our world or other places, because there is no possible way for them to leave. Upon eating their souls, you took on that same attribute. You’re now anchored to this place just like them, and won’t be leaving anytime soon,” Ren explained evenly, with little emotion in his voice.

Lucie frowned, not liking the reality Ren painted. However, it did explain why she had been wandering through the realm for months, with no way out. “Then what are you saying, that I’m confined here until the end of time?” she asked, clenching her teeth. Doomed to only see the smoky skies of the volcanic realm, and to never see the crisp blue weather of Earthland ever again seemed like a tragic ending.

“Pretty much, yep. If I didn’t know a way out,” Ren chimed. “But you of all people should know that nothing is free. Let’s put your little Daemonic contracts to better use, shall we?”

“What do you want?” the raven-haired girl asked the spirit suspiciously. Only now he was asking her consent on something, to see if she agreed? He really was in a weird position compared to the past.

“Once you’re back where you belong, there is someone I need you to track down, and kill. Only then can I be free from this cycle of life and death,” Ren explained, his voice solemn. “The target goes by many names, and is two people in one entity. One half is called Ecclesia. The other half is called Invidia. Oftentimes, the former uses the alias, ‘Alice’. Yes, it’s your mother, but it’s not like she ever cared about you anyway. Else you would not have ended up with me, nor would you be stuck here.”

Lucie listened, quietly irritated at the notion. The only surviving family she might have, and Ren wanted that person dead. “You can’t hold me to that, you know. I’m in control now, and you have no power,” the Daemon replied, crossing her arms and choosing to sit down on a nearby boulder.

“Not by myself, I can’t. But that’s why you will need to make the binding contract. Me telling you how to get out of here in exchange for you continuing my search for Alice. With your Daemonic contract, if I fail you, you retake my soul and the cycle continues. If you fail me, who knows? Your own soul could collapse, or I could have my turn again. With you Daemons, there’s no telling. So, how about it?” Ren continued, internally grinning.

Lucie pondered the options again. She had little control or knowledge on how to utilize her contractual powers. However, Ren’s offer seemed much more appealing than waiting for the end of time while in the realm of fire. “Alright, fine. If I even find your ‘Alice’, my mother, I’ll do what I can. But I won’t risk my life either,” the Daemon agreed, irritated.

“That’s all I can ask. The deal is sealed simply with words-- words have power, you know. As for your own predicament, your soul will not be able to fully return to the physical worlds. However, you do have an option available to you. Project your consciousness away from this place, and to wherever you wish to go, no matter how far away it is. Channel your spirit and mind away from your soul, and create a physicality with them to use. Here’s how….”

~~~

A few days had passed. The Daemon was at ease again with blue skies overhead, and on the days of gray skies, there was pleasant rain to fall and grace the land. The first thing Lucie had done was affiliate herself with her old “friend”, Chaoris. He had declared that they were the mages of ‘Nightmare’, and from there, the idea of a new group was expanded upon. No, not just that. They were more than just a small band of bloodthirsty rogues. They were a guild, and a dark guild at that. It was not like the Daemon did not have experience with the dark guilds, after all. Fairy Tail had been given dark status because of her, and one day, they finally sent her off in hopes of gaining the favor of the Magic Council again. But what right did a council of unknown people have to declare the statuses of guilds, and to let an entire ‘family’ take the fall for one. Perhaps Lucie was where she was meant to be now, but until she paid off the debt to Fairy Tail that they had for keeping her in their ranks so long, there would be no rest.