Not in My Backyard [solo]

Althea sighed as she walked through the blossom filled forest, her eyes trained on the cloudless sky.  Truthfully, most people around her were actually staring at the ground, but she didn’t need to use her eyes for anything in particular.  After all, she was just a part of a search party in pursuit of some kid.  As one can tell, it wasn’t the typical thing that Althea went for as a job.  Usually things that required a lot of punching and kicking were what piqued her interest, but this time around Althea was on a bit of a “tourist-like” endeavor.  She heard the Sakuramori was a place with a weird environment and really weird creatures, so she was curious what it had in store for her.  Taking a job in a particularly remote part of the area was the best excuse to visit it.  Honestly, Althea was a bit of a workaholic, so it was probably her idea of a vacation.

Even though she was still being paid to be there…

Either way, there Althea was, staring at the pale blue sky, when a foreign scent hit her.  Well, it wasn’t really foreign, it was just that the rest of the search party had this harsh, rough kind of scent while the one she had picked up was rather flowery.  It was probably the kid, seeing as most people in the remote village actually smelled pretty similar.  Her deep blue eyes connected with the ground, her body guiding her away from the rest of the search party and deeper into the forest.

Now, Althea didn’t have the best sense of direction, but this kid was the absolute worst.  The blonde couldn’t keep track of how many times they looped around in a big old circle or doubled back only to return back to a path.  Truthfully, if she had been in the kid’s shoes she would’ve climbed a tree to get a better idea of her surroundings, but apparently the bark on the seemingly pristine cherry blossoms in the area was pretty poisonous.  Not to the degree that it’d kill you, but you’d be pretty uncomfortable for a few days.  Either way, Althea had more pressing matters because as the scent approached the cliffside it began mingling with this metallic one, a presence that absolutely reeked of magic.  “Aw, now I have to walk faster…”  The mage complained audibly, having been admiring the scenic beauty of the evil poisonous trees for the duration of her walk.  But, if something not from the evil tree village had found the kid before she did it could mean trouble.  Oh, and by walk Althea actually meant jog.  And by jog she meant “go really flipping fast”.  After all, as her base speed increased things like “walking” became the same speed of some people’s all out run.  Kind of sad for all those non-magical professional runners to be outclassed by someone old enough to be in highschool, but a pretty good situation for Althea.

However, as she approached the mouth of a cave she skidded to a stop.  She remembered someone saying something about a cave filled with gemstones, maybe something along the lines of “don’t go in there”?  Whatever, it Althea couldn’t remember the guidelines she didn't see why she had to follow it.  Either way, a cave filled with sparkly rocks seemed like the perfect tourism attraction!  So into the dark cave she went.

---

The pine trees seemed to be towering over Elodea, looking down at her and the figue strewn across the snow blanketed ground with un hidden contempt.  They allowed the cruel, harsh wind, carrying a burning cold and even more snow, to pass through their green coated branches.  Underneath their dark limbs were of course the nymph and the bloodied body.  Elodea would’ve swore that the girl was dead if not for the fact she’d seen the same person after the fact.  Her blonde hair was coated in flecks of snow, her body lying on its back with palms facing directly up.  Except, there was only one palm to be facing up in the first place, the girl only actually having one of her arms.  And that wasn’t the only thing missing either.  Her torso, a leg, a few toes, an ear, miscellaneous things just weren’t there anymore.  And the parts left over had this odd property to them, black viens erupting out of the dead pale skin.  The girl’s head was completely detached from the body, eyes wide open and mouth hanging.  Blood still trickled from the child’s mouth, her eyes staring straight up at the gray uncaring skies.  And those eyes of hers, displaying slight surprise yet still so yielding.  It was as if they had simply been waiting for someone to kill them in the bitter cold, taking some parts and discarding the rest.

It wasn’t the first time Elodea had viewed the memory, having seen it first in those of Althea’s before replaying it in her head on an occasion.  The reason for that was simply because the green haired teen couldn’t believe that she was in fact still alive.

But there was one thing that set that image of Althea apart from the current one apart from age.  Those eyes.  Althea’s were royal blue yet theirs were ruby.  But why?  That was the question Elodea had for the carefree mage, seeing that she would obviously know.  Of course, she’d asked others, but apparently the changing of eye color could be the result of many things.  But looking at the least impactful reason it was because Althea’s eyes turn red when under great distress.  Most extreme being that she’s some srt of demonic being whose eyes change color when using the powers of their lineage.  That would be the thing that made most sense seeing as someone killed her and took parts of her body, presumably for things like alchemy.  A demon’s flesh could make a lot of things, the most appealing to Elodea being an elixir to revive the dead.  Seeing as Althea killed her friends, it wouldn’t be bad at all to use her to bring them back, would it?

And that brings us to the spectacle of two girls in a cave, one aiming to take the flesh of another.  Truthfully, Elodea had intended to come into contact with Althea at Sakuramori, and she of all the people in the search party was definitely the one who’d pinpoint the cave before the rest.

Althea, seeming to be pleasantly surprised for some reason, spoke first, “So, you going to tell me why you’re here?”

Elodea scoffed, crossing her arms haughtily.  “Like I would tell you!”

“Actually, you aren’t a very tight lipped person.  If I coax you enough I’m sure I could find out!”

Elodea scowled, “What?  No!”  She quickly regained her composure before actually ending up spilling the beans, “Well, Althea, you have a choice to make.  Fight me or go after that child you’re after.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have a reason to fight you, do I?  You’re still wearing those magic restricting chains from the Magic Council, aren’t you?  That means you can’t use your magic on anyone but yourself, rendering you practically homeless.”  She strode past Elodea easily, a carefree smile on her face, “Well then, let’s get going!  Child needs saving!”

“You-!”  Elodea sucked up her annoyance, taking stride along with Althea.  “Why the heck are you here anyways?”

Althea looked back at Elodea, displaying her surprise clearly, “What?!  I assumed you already knew!  Was that just… a lucky guess??”

The nymph sighed, “No, idiot.  I meant why a big shot like you is bothering with a little job like this.”

“Oh, that’s it?”  Althea turned her gaze back into the depths of the cave, “Well, I wouldn’t have gotten an excuse to enter this cave otherwise.  People need to watch out for poachers, you know?”

And thus, a blonde girl clad in plainly colored sweats and a green-haired nymph wearing a hood and shackles around her wrists strode dutifully through the crystal covered cave.  Althea occasionally made an amazed “woah” while Elodea stayed completely silent, her arms crossed and green eyes modlily glued to the cave floor.  Admittedly, the cave was indeed a spectacle.  It was obvious why the village was so adamant about no one entering the place.  The perfectly formed gemstones were embedded on just about every surface, and each of them was infused with a pure, light magic.  Basically, the cave was perfect for lacrima manufacturing, and there wasn’t even any major settlement to avoid bothering in the area.  Companies would just reimburse the few families living there, pay them enough to go somewhere else, and start digging up the place.  No one could fault them and they’d be rich off of the cave’s natural resources.  It was surprising that no one knew of the cave in the first place, bt such was expected from a major center of magic like Sakura Kaori.  Sometimes thernano just naturally converged into one area of earth, creating mysterious places like the sakura filled forests as well as the Cursed Lands.  Moving heavy machinery through the area safely was a problem, but with the right spatial magic simply teleporting it wasn’t out of the equation.  However, to teleport to such a location someone would’ve had to traverse the dangerous environment and stumble across it.  The remote village would’ve had no problem if not for the missing child bringing attention to them, enjoying their pretty rocks for generations to come.

Mages are usually the ones who reported such natural resources in the first place, but Althea had no intention to o so whatsoever.  After all, who would intentionally ruin such a great place for tourism?!  It was clear none of the villagers really came up to the cave, but they really should at least visit the natural wonder once in their lifetime.  It was right in their backyard for crying out loud!  These people really needed to get out more, or was it “in” because the tourist trap was a cave?  Whatever, either way those people really needed to go in there.

It was while Althea was admiring a blue crystal boldly jutting out from the cave wall that the sound of rock meeting rock echoed through the cave.  The blonde’s eyes widened, tearing away from the gem and instead peering into the distance.  And of course, with her enhanced eyesight it was no problem to see the small rock things approaching from over the horizon.  They were these little rock like creatures, their bodies resembling the stalactites on the cave ceiling.  The odd little things hopped around, the soft blue gms embedded into their bodies sparkling despite the absence of light.  Elodea, unable to actually see the creatue’s approach, simply glanced around the darkness nervously.  Althea on the other hand, was just confused.

Why the heck were such loud things moving around in this cave?  She could hear them before they were even within two meters of her.  Were the species in this cave just deaf?  They sure as heck aren't predators, any prey would be able to run away from such sluggish things.  Maybe they were able to waltz around nonchalantly because they actually lived off something other than the flesh of their brethren?  If predators just knew they were practically unable to hunt, then they could probably get away with it.  Yeah, let’s go with that.  Althea is satisfied.

But before the blonde could really reveal in her appreciation for natural order, the small rock things were upon the girls.

“Eek!  Quick, Althea, kill it!”  Elodea screeched, apparently finally able to see the darn things.

Althe gazed at Elodea, confused.  “Huh?  No?”

Elodea began shaking the blonde, “Q-Quick!  They’re going to touch us!”

“What, do you not think they’re cool?  I thought you liked nature.”

“Not dangerous nature!  Eek!”  She grasped onto Althea’s shoulder, it was time.  The rock things were upon them, and Althea had done nothing to prevent their approach. The nymph braced herself to feel their jagged edges imbue into her flesh, the thousands of little deadly rocks all crowding for a taste of her blood.

But that never happened.

Because they were all out for Althea’s blood instead.

“Oi, get off my leg.”  The blonde murmured to the strange little things, nudging them away only for them to crowd back around her.  If it was Elodea she’d be screaming her head off, but apparently Althea didn’t mind all too much.  Well, she did have several layers of defensive spells cast on her at basically all times, and even a A-rank beast would have trouble with those.  So, none of the stalagtite’s aggressive nudging actually drew a speck of blood, the slayer eventually getting impatient and leaping over the ever growing murderous pile.

Althea was being pursued by the murder rocks, but she couldn’t just sprint off and abandon Elodea in the dark.  So, she circled around the painfully slow rocks, grabbed the nymphs’ hand, and darted off into the cave.  Regrettably, she had to pass many really cool looking sparkle rocks in the process, but such was a sacrifice when trying to evade a bunch of evil rocks.  But seeing that they were really slow and really loud, the blonde didn’t feel the need to actually run for all too long, stopping after only a few moments.  Well, Elodea looked entirely lawn out, so she must’ve been going fast enough that plenty of distance had been put between her and the rock things.  Releasing the nymph, the ribbon wearing mage strode on dutifully, still on the trail of the flowery scent and metallic one.

But, the presence of another occupant of the cave caught Althea's attention, a white fox with gems encrusted into its pristine coat.  Honestly, the blonde was trying to find an excuse to see it with her eyes, having only sensed the shy little thing for the majority of the cave exploration.  It was always just out of reach, and Althea didn't have a good enough excuse to catch up with it, but now she was here face to face with it.

“Oh wow, cute~”  Althea called, approaching the fox quietly and reaching down to pet it.  The elegant fox sniffed Althea’s hand.  Then it opened its jaw.  Then it bit her.

“Hey, uncool!”  The blonde exclaimed, but did not actually received her hand.  After all, while the white fox was busy trying to eat her hand she could comprotable pet it her her bandaged hand.  “Aw, so cute~”

Meanwhile, Elodea, barely having recovered from the nauseating experience of being dragged by someone moving at intense speeds, had to look on at this spectacle.  The white fox was doing everything in its power to rip Althea’s hand off while the mage just seemed to be enjoying petting the fox.  Eventually, it recognized the futility of its actions, releasing Althea and running into the shadows.

“Wow, foxes are just the cutest~”  Althea said for the millionth time before just going on with her life.  Truthfully, the strength of the white fox’s bite was only a bit more than that of a normal fox, and if being stabbed by a knife has no effect on Althea its obvious being bitten by such a force wouldn’t either.

While traversing the cave, the interest Althea had for stopping and inspecting every individual rock faded, leaving her to only have a passing glance at something to enjoy it.  It was still really nice to look at, with each of the walls being decorated by its own dazzling gems, but it really allowed the girls to pick up the pace.  In no time, they arrived at a crystal blocking their path.  However, Althea didn't hesitate before just punching through it.  After all, the child’s scent led into there, but she didn’t have any patience to find the proper way in.  Brute force was enough to enter the crystal chamber.

In the crystal covered room was a noble, composed figure of a fairy about as tall as a three year old.  They stood there unmoving, no wait, they floated more than they actually stood, didn’t they?  Well, the pink gem creature was floating there elegantly, their unopened eyes trained on the intruders of their domain.

“Hey!”  Althea raised her hand in greeting,  “I’m Althea!  I came for a kid that entered here, you seen them?”

Elodea stiffened, her green eyes fearfully moving from the blond to the fairy.  But the fairy however just nodded wordlessly, drifting to the side to reveal the sleeping figure of the child inside a crystal prism.  Their cloathes were coated in dirt and it seemed like they’d been crying for a while, but the youth was otherwise unharmed.

“Ah, thanks.”  She chirped, walking straight up to the crystal before making a hole in it with brute strength only.  Realizing how impulsive she was being, she glanced at the fairy, “Ah, there was probably some other way to open this thing, right?  Well, you have enough time to fix it yourself.”  She said loftily, scooping up the child into her arms princess style. “Real nice place you have here by the way, although I have to say the environment is a bit weird to me.”  She said finally before turning and leaving the chamber.  The sound of her fading footsteps echoed through the silent room of crystal, however, the green haired nymph stayed behind.  After all, she had some business with the pink creature.

“Oh protector of these lands,”  She got down on one knee, her eyes downcast, “I come before thee, please grant me thy blessing.”

“Gladly.”  The fairy replied curtly, prompting for Elodea to get back to her feet, eyes level with those of the fairy.  “As I expected from a nymph, you paid proper respect to the land’s guardian.  I could barely tolerate the sight of that brat.”  They floated towards Elodea.

“Ah, yes.  I was afraid that she’d have to face your might.”  Luckily she had explained to the fairy before Althea had arrived the girl’s potential usefulness, allowing the guardian to refrain from making an attempt on anyone’s life.

The fairy scoffed, “Hopefully it is what you say, especially after that embarrassment I suffered.  Now,”  The fairy opened her mouth, but instead of an actual voice it emitted a soft chime.  A stalagmite then suddenly entered the chamber, phasing through the crystal to approach the fairy.  It seemed to almost bow to the guardian before emitting a soft glow, locks of blonde hair floating towards the pink fairy.

Unfortunately not a single creature could actually damage Althea enough to make her bleed, but although it was a lot less effective, hair also worked.  Barely unable to contain her sense of apprehension, Elodea snatched it away from the terrifying creature, whipping out a vial from her bag and dropping the hair right in.  Truthfully, for reviving the dead Elodea needed a lot more than just hair, but the cave fairy could use a potent healing elixir in exchange for her cooperation.  It had taken the nymph a very long time to gather enough ingredients just for that, but if her hunch was correct it meant she could manipulate the simple minded Althea into doing exactly what the other teen wished.  Closing the vial, Elodea tentatively swished around the solution, injected just the right amount of ethernano at the right times.

And then it happened, the formerly clear liquid turned blood red, a grin spreading across Elodea’s visage.  She had done it!  Demon Blood, the miraculous elixir of healing, was right there in her hands!  After a moment of success, the concoction started to bubble uncontrollably, the liquid returning back to clear before becoming a bright, shining white.  “Wha-?”  Before Elodea could investigate the strange mixture, the glowing liquid broke the glass vial, spilling uselessly onto the crystal floors.  “How, what?!  But her eyes… I did everything perfectly!”  After all those months of intense study of alchemy, the creation of Demon's Blood had failed.  She could’ve sworn she had done it for a moment, what changed?

Suddenly the fairy interjected into Elodea’s internal monologue, obviously not very pleased.  “What about the brat’s eyes?  I thought you said she was most likely a demon.  That was not the reaction from a part of a demon.”

The nymph struggled to find words, her throat dried in the face of the fairy’s cold fury.  “Erm, in the past they turned red, but they’re blue.”

It was then the fairy’s otherwise closed eyes shot open, her pupils being a kaleidoscope of color, the mesmerizing colors shifting with every moment.  “How do you know that her eyes didn't turn blue?  How about if it isn’t blue eyes she’s supposed to have, but red?”  They closed their eyes, their calm demeanor returning, “That reaction was peculiar, I highly doubt that brat is human.  It went from Demon’s Blood to Angel’s Splendor without you even doing anything.”

“Angel’s Splendor…?”

“It’s what you get once you put a part of a holy being into the same concoction in place of that of a demonic being.  It’s a lot less prominent than demon blood because entities of the natural holy attribute are much rarer than any of the demons you can find in the land of Sin.”  The fairy’s tone darkened, “And yet that girl displayed both reactions, but being both demonic and angelic is strictly impossible.  A mix between the two has their own separate reaction, not both.”

“What… what is she?”  Elodea muttered, falling to her knees.

“Don’t ask me.  It’s your problem, child of Terra.  Please leave my cave.”

The ground shifted underneath Elodea, and before she knew it, she had been spit out at the entrance of the crystal cave.