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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.
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.