Leftover Sunrise [solo]

Dark branches extended into the clear gray sky, crisp dirt crunching underfoot as Althea made her way through the woods.  She glanced down at the lightly crumpled map in her hands, rotating it as if it would help her read it better.  The youth had decided to take a job from a rather mysterious remote village in the middle of nowhere, and she seriously had no idea where she was.  Her sense of direction wasn’t the best, but as long as she could see the sun, it’d probably end up okay.  After all, she had once wandered into the harsh deserts of Deiseirto back when she was brand new to the world of magic, but upon a lot of wandering around Althea eventually made her way out.  Maps tended to only slow her down while navigating, and it wasn’t as if she was a stranger to rough terrain.  But forests never failed to seem the same no matter how many times she traversed them.  And now that the sky was blotted out with wispy clouds, all she could take note of were whether or not a tree had moss on it or not.

She sighed, folding the map and putting it back into her blazer’s pocket.  The job she’d taken had so many red flags about it, yet she wasn’t even going to be able to show up at the mystery village?  It wasn’t any day that a “strong mage” was requested with no information other than the location and pay.  Additionally, it seemed that other mages who took the request never actually returned, so what the village needed help with was beyond her.  Well, seeing as it tickled her fancy, the blonde had wanted to poke her nose into it, but now she was lost in a dumb forest.  Her eyes narrowed as she continued trudging through the forestry, trying to use her senses to detect signs of life.  There was a range to her detection, but it wasn’t like the forest went on forever, right?  She was positive Mystery Village was somewhere in the area, so she simply had to aimlessly walk around until she discovered it.

But apparently, looking blindly around the dark forest was unnecessary, because the young girl soon stumbled across a gravel path.  Where there is a road there is a destination, and the only place in the area would the suspicious village she was looking for.  And thus, her mood immediately lightened as she began heading down the path at a “light jog”.  Well, she may call it that, but admittedly the young girl was moving quite quickly.  It wasn’t that she wanted to mess up the trail, she just wanted to leave the wood… any maybe mess it up a bit as she did it.  However, as she spotted billows of smoke rising into the air, Althea finally slowed her pace back to a brisk walk.  It was then she finally happened upon the first instance of human life since she entered the forest, a little girl with a woven basket, picking glossy red berries off a bush.

“Hello!”  She exclaimed, causing the little girl to jump in surprise, turning her alert gaze towards the mage.  The girl had pale blonde hair worn into pigtails, crystal blue eyes, and a wore red mantle.  Additionally, she was much younger than Althea, but even so her eyes had a bit of an odd readiness to them as she slowly slid her hand to the knife in her basket.  As the slayer wanted to be fair, she would at least let the little girl get out her weapon before she perceived her as a threat.

But no attack ever came.  Instead the village girl’s eyes widened in disbelief.  “Wait… Althea Eventide?”

“...Huh?”  The little girl was surprised, but Althea was even more so.  It was a strange feeling to be recognized out in the middle of nowhere when people didn’t give you a second glance in more established areas.  It wasn’t that people didn’t know her name, it was just that people didn’t know her face.  There must’ve been only, what, two issues of the Sorcerer’s Magazine with her face on it?  Just because you hear that a few of Fairy Tail’s aces were younger girls, then it still wouldn’t be reasonable to assume every younger girl you see is a wizard, that would be just plain unreasonable.  And the fact Althea usually covered her guild mark didn’t help either, so it wasn’t often she’d get recognized in public.

“Y-You saved my village a long time ago, that’s how I know…”  The little girl’s eyes were far divorced from the suspicious look they previously held, “I’m Yuklo, erm, we met when you saved Beanstalk village by defeating that dark wizard who was messing with our crops.”

“Ah, right, I did do something like that.”  The Fairy Tail mage replied, thinking back to the job.  Quite honestly, it had happened ages ago, so she hadn’t expected to hear anyone bring it up again.  But she supposed to the people she helped, it was memorable enough to hold onto for a long period.  “Oh, you were the rock kid, right?  Yeah, I remember you, you’ve gotten taller.”  From what Althea could tell, Yuklo had previously been around nine when they met, but now she seemed to be around ten.

The little girl laughed, nervously cradling her basket of bright red berries.  “Ye-Yeah, please forget about how I got all the kids to throw rocks at you.  We thought you were a bandit and-”

However, the youth simply grinned, interjected into Yuklo’s sentence, “I was talking about the rock you threw the Dark Wizard who was terrorizing your town, I thought it was pretty cool of you.  I’d completely forgotten about when you threw them at me… so thanks for reminding me!”

She laughed, prompting the little girl’s already rosy cheeks to redden further.  “That-”  She turned away abruptly, took a deep breath, and once again faced Althea.  But through the moment she took to recuperate herself, the color of her face had returned to normal.  Seriously, what kind of ten-year-old was she supposed to be?  She was far more composed than Elodea, and who knows how old that nymph was?  “Anyways, Al- Ms. Eventide,”

“Althea’s fine.”

“Okay, erm, Althea, what are you doing out here?”

Honestly, Althea could ask Yuklo the same exact question.  For a girl who had previously lived in Beanstalk Village, the sudden change in scenery was surprising, especially to such a remote area.  But the youth presumed that could wait until later, an exchange of information was only effective when both parties were willing to answer questions.  “Well, I’m here for the job.”  She answered plainly, the little girl’s eyes widening in shock.

“Wha-?  R-Really?  You don’t… you still have time to change your mind, you know.”  Out of all possible responses, that hadn’t been one Althea was expecting from Yuklo.  Still, it did serve to affirm her suspicions that something weird was going on in the town.  She could turn around and leave it as someone else’s problem, but the Magic Council would probably demand that she’d go back there anyway.  So, I might as well deal with the situation as it presented itself to her.

“Yeah, no thanks.  I’ll be taking the job.”  She said conclusively, reassuming her walk towards the mysterious village.

“Okay then, I’ll be coming with you.”  The little girl said, smoothly moving in step along with Althea along the path.  Looking at her expression, it was almost as if she hadn’t suggested for the other blonde to turn around while she still could.  Instead, she wore the usual bright smile of youth, further making the mage question just how old she was.  Speaking of age, she had never had trouble communicating with Yuklo before, had she?  Althea had chronic issues with interacting with small humans like her, yet she hadn’t even hesitated before speaking to the little girl.  In the past, all sorts of problems cropped up due to how she couldn’t quite speak properly to the strange creatures.  But as she pondered about it as she silently walked side by side with Yuklo towards her village, the answer suddenly dawned on Althea.

The first time she’d met the little girl, she was even more maladjusted to people than she was currently.  However, the act of the child throwing rocks at her must’ve moved her out of the category of “child”.  After all, in Althea’s mind, a child was meant to be immature, soft, and incapable of doing anything whatsoever.  But the moment Yuklo attacked her, she unconsciously began treating her as she would anyone else.  And yet again, for their most recent meeting, Althea was initially met with hostility before engaging in any sort of conversation.  If she took this as the standard, all sorts of ingenious plays could be done to get around her number one weakness.  The only thing she needed to do was hand the young organism a knife-

“We’re here.”  Yulko's bright voice interrupted her train of thought.

“Huh, quaint.”  She muttered, letting her eyes scan the precise.  On the surface, it couldn’t be distinguished from any of the other remote areas Althea had visited, save for the spacious forest surrounding it.  They had wooden homes reinforced with cobblestone, animals skulking around in the streets, and the town’s citizens were moving around quite actively.  From what she could tell, they mostly were able to just sustain themselves using the resources in the area, trading goods amongst themselves.  Additionally, the village was a lot bigger than she had expected, a few buildings even looked relatively new.

“Ah, there you are, Yuklo.  What are you doing out of your smock?  Oh, and you brought someone along with you…?”  A woman wearing a forest green kirtle over her smock approached the pair, a cheerful smile on her visage.

Yuklo returned the older woman’s smile with one of her own, “Sorry auntie, I just wanted to play a bit in my clothes from Beanstalk.  This is Althea,”  She gestured towards the blonde, “She’s here for the job we posted.

The woman inspected the mage with great scrutiny, her eyes not carrying the same jovial energy as the rest of her expression.  Still, maybe it was just difficult for her to believe that the strong mage the village requested was a girl who seemed to only have a few years on Yuklo.  Or maybe it was her attire, because even for Althea’s standards what she currently had on was atypical.  Sure, she had already gone on jobs in a school uniform like she had on, but this time around it was a variant of her usual one.  Tethys, the degenerate dragon NEET, had insisted that she tried to dress like a “gyaru” at some point, whatever that was, shouldering off clothes corresponding to the look.

And so, Althea’s ensemble consisted of a black blazer accompanied by a white button-up and tie.  Her miniskirt was also black, and it was so short that one would be able to see the shorts the blonde always wore under her skirts.  Lastly, there were loose socks and slip-on shoes, which were actually kind of pleasant.  Sure, the area was on the cooler side, but it wasn’t like socks made a difference made a difference to the girl’s body temperature.  Still, it was the thought that counted.

“Alright,”  The smiling woman finally uttered, “Your little friend must be tired, right?  We might as well be hospitable since you came all the way here to help out the village.”

“No, I’m fine.  Just tell me what you need me to do.”  Althea shot down the offer immediately.  Previously, she had at times been given a choice of accommodations, but she never took them.  When she went off for a job, the only thing she wanted to do was get in there and get out.  The main priority was always solving the problem her employer had, so it would be best that she didn’t dilly dally for the sake of Fairy Tail’s reputation.  In the first place, Althea wasn’t the type to need rest anyways, the combat she engaged in was enough to satisfy all her needs.

However, the villager didn’t back down easily, “No, I insist!  For such a young girl to travel through the forest all by herself must’ve been difficult.”

“Sorry, but I just want to quickly get through the motions.  Do you mind if you explain exactly what needs to be done?”

For the first time since Althea met her, the woman’s smile cramped a bit, “Honey, I understand that wizards are very busy people, but you don’t need to force yourself, ‘kay?”  She nodded towards Yuklo, prompting the little girl to flinch.  “I need Yuklo for something, mind if I borrow her for a bit?  You can go off and talk to the other younger people in the village.  They are probably out working in the fields right now, so it might make them happy if you drop by to see them.”  Then, still smiling, she offered her hand to the little girl, Yuklo hesitatingly grabbing hold before walking away.

Still, something the lady had mentioned concerned Althea.  There were other young people like Yuklo, so she might have to try talking to them if she tried associating with them as the woman had insisted on.  That idea was far from her ideal, so when the woman walked away she immediately decided to explore instead.  There were a lot of interesting looking places, so maybe she’d even run into the alleged problem before anyone actually bothered telling her.

And as the youth traveled through the village, she noticed a few things.  First off, there were mages other than herself in town.  Perhaps they were the people who had came to take the job before her, or maybe they always lived there.  Or maybe they didn’t even realize they were a wizard, which was an unlikely yet realistic possibility.  But she guessed that the village wasn’t completely vulnerable out here in the middle of nowhere.  If bandits were to suddenly attack, then they’d probably be able to fend them off for a fair amount of time.  Then again, what kind of bandit would try robbing such a remote area?  They didn’t seem to have all that much wealth, and they were living with a slightly low quality of life.  From poking around, she could tell that although there were vendors for food and such, she couldn’t find a single actual doctor.  Maybe the responsibility fell onto mages, but at times modern technology was far more efficient than pure magic.  Sure, Althea could heal a limb or two, but it’d take way too much effort to cure an entire area of disease.  In those cases, simply distributing medicine would be faster, with the more dire cases moving onto magical treatment.

However, while wandering around the bright town, something really caught her attention.  The youth’s gaze snapped towards the mass of trees that bordered the village.  Just by looking, all one would be able to find were tall, forlorn trees, but what caught her attention wasn’t physical.  Instead, it was the leftover trace of magic from deep within the woods.  Althea would say that her magic detection range was above average, so the abnormality hundreds of meters away didn’t go unnoticed by her.  However, before she moved to investigate the disturbance, she wanted to make sure no one was watching her.  After all, she was already considered unreliable by her appearance alone, so if she went diving into the forest her impression might just lower even further.  Imagine a professional you hired took more interest in a random spot of magic rather than the town they were meant to be protecting.

Still, that weird bit of magic was rather strange to Althea.  It was kind of like drinking coffee, and suddenly it started tasting like chocolate milk.  They’re both warm liquids, but the tastes are almost polar opposites.  The Fairy Tail mage didn’t even like drinking coffee, but it was necessary for the explanation.  So the moment the young girl felt as if no eyes were on her, she quickly disappeared into the forest, headed for the chocolate milk area.  Who knows, maybe she’ll solve the village’s problem before anyone even explains what it is to her?  She felt as if there was something weird about them, but it was none of her business as long as it had nothing to do with the town’s request.  But it wasn’t long until she arrived upon the suspicious spot, finding that she had rightfully deemed it as such.  The moment she stepped into the area, she realized the true nature of it.  Calling it “your coffee tasting like chocolate milk” was no longer accurate.  Instead, it was more like chocolate milk trying to disguise itself as coffee was in your drink, but the chocolate taste served to mask that of car oil.

Demonic, that was the aura of the area Althea had stepped into.  As someone who often dealt with such beings in the past, it was simple for her to identify it as such.  She frowned, scanning the forest clearing for any signs of the source.  Such an intense demonic magic signature so close to a human settlement only spelled out trouble.  And after a bit of poking around, she’d finally found a hatch hidden within the bushes, the harsh steel heavily contrasting the dirt.  The last time the water mage had found a hatch leading to an underground area, she’d simply broken it.  Admittedly, it wasn’t like it was broken or anything, she just didn’t want to bother with all the opening and closing she’d have to do.  But as a result, Psi had gained some sort of weird idea about her character, so this time around she’d try being more discreet.

The cold hatch, unlike the one in Zelus’s shrine, had a locking mechanism that had something to do with magic.  Physically there was only a padlock, one which she could probably break with brute force if she needed to, requiring a four-digit code to bypass.  But attached to it was a weird spell, causing the lock to emit a malicious aura.  And from what Althea could tell from a glance, it was a pretty nasty one, inflicting whoever made a failed attempt at opening it with a dreadful curse.  Thankfully, that wasn’t something she had to worry about, so the blonde just went ahead and put in a random number combination into the padlock, one-one-one-one.  In an instant, a sharp pain coursed through the youth’s body.  The pain made it impossible for her to properly control her body, prompting her body to fall backward while painfully thrashing.  But with a simple spell on her part, she dispelled it.

“Phew, good thing Tethys taught me how to do that before I left for that one subjugation.”  The young girl remarked, getting to her knees and moving back over to the padlock.  “Instead of playing with small human beings, I guess I’ll just keep doing this.”  She muttered before entering yet another set of numbers, one-one-one-two.  But it was immediately made apparent to her that the curse would leave her bored, because this time around Althea was subjected to a whole new kind of pain.  Initially, the youth couldn’t feel a thing and was about to input her next guess until she realized her skin had turned green.  Well, it wasn’t really green, it’s just that her complexion had became dyed a sickening, unhealthy shade.  Then, her body became wracked with spasms, her mouth sputtering forth until she was able to finally dispel the curse.

She once more moved towards the cold lock, wiping the saliva from her mouth as she entered her next guess, one-one-one-three.  Blood immediately erupted from her mouth, splattering onto the dirt.  Her vision began to blur as the youth realized that it wasn’t just blood that left her body, but a few chunks of flesh as well.  It seemed like the curse could even decay the human body from the inside out, rendering its target confused and disorientated from the sudden yet quickly intensifying pain.  But the moment Althea dispelled the curse, she didn’t feel the need to cast a healing spell as well.  At the point she’d gotten to, her natural recovery was rather good, so it’d be no problem to restore a few ruptured organs.  And thus, the youth entered combination after combination, the curse ravaging through her body before it was quickly quelled through magic.

Althea hadn’t expected that the curse would manifest itself in different ways each time, but it wasn’t like she was complaining.  Feeling the same pain over and over again was just plain boring… wait, she sounded like the Angel of Dreams when she phrased it like that, didn’t she?  Well, it was only to be expected when Althea was now technically the same person as the angel after that little fiasco in Deiseitro.  The creature was one that wanted stimulation so much that it’d rather go through excruciating efforts to die immediately instead of slowly losing her sense of self.  That reminded her, she still hadn’t seen the return of the Ring of Blood yet, had she?  Well, the blonde expected that it’d only be time until it resurfaced, especially after what Finley said as she died.  It was “there are others”, right?  She remembered because of the deranged smile she wore while the light faded from her eyes, cementing her as one of the handful of people she’d killed while they were smiling.  And when the Ring of Blood did come back, she suspected that as the one who’d dealt with it in the past, the Magic Council would just saddle her with the responsibility again.  It wasn’t like she could refuse their demands when her job in the guild was to listen to the Council, but that still didn’t mean she couldn’t complain about it.

But after she’d entered the combination one-three-five-nine, she began to notice something strange.  Each instance of the curse had begun to inflict less and less damage on her, and the time required for her to dispel it subtly decreased.  The ground had been painted red by blood, but with each combination the amount added to the earth lessened.  The water mage presumed that she was gaining some sort of resistance to it after she’d repeatedly let the curse into her body.  After all, it was a bit like a magical poison, so it’d only be reasonable if one could gain resistance.  It was just that curses tended to immediately kill anyone who contracted them, so there was never any time to allow the body to get used to it.  Althea couldn’t help but smile as she thought about just how adaptable the human body could be in the right circumstances before she entered yet another combination.

And finally, after several hours of failed attempts, the cold lock clicked open.  The combination ended up being five-six-seven-three, but it wasn’t like she experienced 4,562 different variations of the curse.  After around only 2,378 attempts, she simply stopped experiencing any negative effects, leaving her free to enter as many guesses as she pleased.  It was a bit disappointing, but having to pad each attempt with suffering from the curse was getting old anyway.  Althea sighed as she got to her feet, finding that her appearance had become rather disheveled.  Clumps of dirt stuck to her hair, and her clothes were covered in her blood and bile.  Admittedly, the surrounding area wasn’t in too good of shape either, a nauseating scent filling the air.  But for a water mage such as Althea, this was no concern, and in the space of a seconds both herself and the forest clearing returned to their prior forms.

Finally, she could enter the hatch, softly climbing down the ladder into what seemed to be an underground complex.  Despite the fact there was a demonic presence all over the place, she couldn’t pinpoint where the demon was.  There was only a single presence of life in the entire dingy place, but that wasn’t the source of the devilish aura.  However, the youth simply shrugged, heading towards the sign of life anyways.  After all, they might just know something about the mysterious area.  And as the slayer traversed the complex, she found several interesting things.  There was only a limited amount of lighting and the stone floor and walls gave it a dungeon-like appearance.  And a few of the rooms she’d passed seemed like prison cells, complete with iron bars and rusty chains.  But by far the most interesting place she passed through had to be the one containing a magic circle drawn with blood.  That alone would’ve been enough to complete the occult look, but the dismembered bodies sure did help out with it.  But aside from that, not much was noteworthy in the strange hole, so maybe the one sign of life could shine some light on the purpose of the facility.

She finally pinpointed the location of the mysterious individual, their magic signature behind a sizable, locked door.  But no matter how big the door was, it wasn’t a hatch, so Althea simply broke it down with a powerful kick.  “Hey, I’m here looking for a--huh?”  She had many expectations, but what the blonde found met none of them.

“A-Althea?”  A teenage girl was chained to a wall, her voice weak.  Her sandy blonde hair was tied into buns on either side of her hair, and her amber eyes widened in recognition.  The girl in a short red, white, and black dress, on top of which laid a loose black and silver cloak.  Her black boots reached more than halfway up her thighs and betrayed evidence of heavy use.  She seemed to have several cuts on her arms, but other than that Althea would say she was perfectly fine.  Other than the whole part about being chained up.

“Oh, hi Nat, didn’t expect to run into you here.”  The blonde said lightly, waving to her long time acquaintance.  The last time she’d seen her, it had been during an incident in Hargeon regarding a bunch of people in masks.  From what Althea could tell, it was a pretty emotional event for her, but it’d still been a while since they last met.

“I…”  Nat struggled to find her words, “The last person I expected to walk through that door was you.  Can- Could you get me out of here?”  She shifted her body, causing her chains to chink.  Without another word, the blonde snapped the cuffs using only her brute strength.  The sandy-haired female let out a sigh, massaging her wrists.  “I can’t believe you managed to get past all the townspeople.  They were a lot stronger than I was expecting…”

“Huh?  What townspeople?”  Althea interjected.  She had scanned the entire place for signs of life, so unless there were masters of stealth lurking around, she and Nat were the only people in the complex.  But more importantly was what Nat’s words suggested.  “So the people in the village have something to do with this place?”

Nat’s amber eyes shone with surprise, “What?!  Did you get in here without running into any of them?  Did they leave the secret hatch open or something?  After all, putting in the wrong combination would get you killed.”

“Don’t mind me, just explain what it is about this place.”  Althea quickly dismissed the other mage’s questions.

“Before we do that,”  Anxiety filled Nat’s gaze as she gazed around her jail cell.  “Could we please get out of here?  You know a way to the outside, right?”

Personally, the Fairy Tail mage couldn’t find any faults in the aesthetics of the underground complex.  Sure it was dusty and contained many bloodstains, but otherwise it was just like any other hole in the ground.  Sure, Althea didn’t like confined places, but it was spacious enough that navigating the halls would be no problem.  However, if Nat was uncomfortable it couldn’t be helped, maybe she was bothered by the demonic aura.  And so, with the older girl in her wake, the slayer retraced her path through the dingy dungeons.  But from the sounds of Nat’s wavering footsteps and muffled gagging when they passed the body parts, it seemed like she hadn’t navigated through the place herself.  Soon the pair finally arrived at the outside world.

The mage watched in silence as Nat took a look around the greenery, wiping away her tears before turning to Althea.  “Thank you so much, I thought I was going to… after seeing those dead bodies, I’m glad you got me out of there.”  The blonde had often seen Nat crying or screaming in desperation during the incident in Hargeon, but this was the first time she’d seen her smile.  “I don’t know how you managed to get in there, but just know that the townsfolk are liars.”  Her amber eyes narrowed, a flame of hatred filling them.  “They put a request for a mage, I came here, but from the very start, I knew something was up.  For a bunch of people who need to work every day of their lives to survive, they were way too happy.  I-It isn’t like I expect them to be depressed, it’s just that everyone was happy.”  Her eyes became contemplative.  “A normal village would have some people looking tired, others looking satisfied, or maybe even some people getting frustrated at something.  But now in that village, everyone was doing their best to constantly look happy.”

Althea’s royal blue eyes widened in surprise.  She knew that the villagers were hiding something, but she hadn’t noticed that they were being far too happy.  Although the mage had no problems identifying her own emotions, she had issues recognizing fake emotions in others.  It was the reason she disliked the botanist Lyra so much, it was hard to be positive just how genuine their facial expressions were.  Actually, no, Lyra was a filthy botanist who also worked for the Magic Council, that was reason enough.

“Whenever I asked to be shown what the problem is, they’d always brush it off and insist that I take a break and relax.  I finally got sick of it, so I-”  Nat’s fists clenched, “I should’ve just left immediately, but I decided to take a look around and I eventually found the hatch.  Well, I noticed the curse, so I watched for the next people to come by.  Soon the men I’d previously seen selling lumber were,”  A shiver of anger ran down her spine, “They were moving a body bag down the hatch.  I tried following them in, but the moment I entered it had set off some kind of magic alarm or something because I didn’t hear anything.  Apparently the two were mages, because when I tried fighting back they used this weird ability, and next thing you know I was chained up in the room.”  Nat let out a tense sigh, brushing a few stray sandy locks from the front of her face.  “If you hadn’t come for me, I don’t know what would’ve happened.  Anyways, what’re you planning on doing from here on?  I can’t forgive those guys for lying and trying to kidnap the people who came to help them out.”

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be sorting out the problem,”  Althea replied plainly.  After all, considering the whole thing with the Magic Council, it was clear it’d only lead to more inconveniences if she didn’t deal with the situation the moment she detected the devilish aura.

Nat nodded, smiling, “Yeah, I knew you’d help out!  I think we should-”

“Hey, wait a second.”  Althea interrupted her, “I said that I’ll be sorting this out.  I’m not going to be working with you.”

“Huh?  Wh-Why?!”  Nat’s eyes widened as she placed her hands on the youth’s shoulders.

“It’s not that I don’t like you, I just feel like the situation is a lot more serious than you think.”  She said, her voice level.  It wasn’t out of coldness of a desire to work alone that Althea denied her, it was just that she felt it’d be a bother to move around together.  It was only about time the villagers realized someone entered their secret murder hole, so before then she’d need to have figured out where the heck the demon was.  If those guys were offering mages as sacrifices to the demon, as the bloody rite had suggested, then infiltrating as a captive wouldn’t work.  After all, the only time she’d be in front of the demon would be as a corpse, and Althea’s deaths never resulted in a corpse anyways. “Okay, I’ll be going to the village, nice to be able to talk again.”

“Wait, Althea!  Even if you don’t help me with my plan, I need you to shuttle my food from the village.”  The youth at first thought that the teen was making some kind of joke, but her expression said otherwise.

“Oh, uh, you can’t find food yourself?  We’re in a forest.”

“What?  No!  Who would eat random stuff they find in the forest?  You never know when stuff has poison in it.  Off the top of my head, I can name five animals in this world that have some kind of toxic gland.”

Althea frowned, “Okay, sure, why not.”  She didn’t want to watch Nat slowly starver herself to death, that was simply unnecessary.  Instead, as a fellow human being, it was her duty to empathize and do some charity work.

“Alright, it’s decided then!”  Nat declared, giving the water mage a thumbs up.  “Leave the food over in that bush over there, I’ll check it daily!”

“Okay, sure.”  The young girl replied flatly, turning around and walking back towards the village.

It wasn’t long until she could hear the hustle and bustle of the mysterious town, prompting her to move as stealthily as possible as she emerged out of the bushes.  Admittedly, she wasn’t very good at sneaking around, but at least she moved fast enough that they wouldn’t even notice how she was skulking around in the bushes.  However, seeing the smiles of the townsfolk reminded her that she didn’t have a single thing to do.  Sure, she had burned hours away through guessing the padlock’s combination, but she didn’t have any plans for afterward.  Althea refused to interact with children, but she also wasn’t in the mood to help out all the townsfolk.  Nat said she couldn’t forgive their actions, but the youth was simply disappointed.  Jobs were meant to be a business transaction, yet they had taken advantage of it to capture sacrifices for their demonic overlord.

“Huh, Althea, I thought you were in the fields with the rest of the kids?”  A young yet apprehensive voice uttered.  The owner was Yuklo, her hood still drawn over her head.  Her bright blue eyes darted around their surroundings before she leaned in to whisper to Althea, “Were you investigating?”

“Yeah, out in the forest.”  She replied easily.  Her suspicion of the little girl was even lower than that of Nat.  After all, someone who met her with hostility when the rest of the town greeted her with smiles probably wasn’t apart of the whole demon thing.  Yuklo’s warning before they entered the town further supported this, along with the fact the little girl wasn’t even living here for that long.

The girl’s sharp eyes continued to chack for onlookers as she spoke to Althea, “Okay, help me out with my chores.  I need you to share my clues with you.”  She whispered, grabbing hold of the water age’s hand.  It wasn’t that the slayer had anything planned for the rest of the day anyway, so Yuklo’s suggestion was welcome.  And thus she ventured back into the forlorn forest, this time accompanied by the blonde child.  “We need to collect berries and herbs, but with the two of us working I’m sure we’ll have plenty of spare time for swapping clues.”  Without another word, she got to her knees, collecting different grasses for her basket with a serious expression.

Following her lead, Althea got to her knees next to the younger girl and began picking red berries.  “Oh, speaking of which, you know about the mages that have disappeared, right?”

The little girl’s expression faded into a saddened one.  “Yeah… I try my best to try and get them t leave, but they always disappear or integrate into the village.  Also, those berries your picking is poisonous.”

“Oh really?”  The Fairy Tail mage remarked, moving instead to harvest the blueberries neighboring them.  It wasn’t that the dragon slayer couldn’t tell, she could detect potent poison from miles away.  It was just that those had been the exact same plant she’d seen Yuklo harvesting from when they initially met, so the youth had simply assumed the villagers had some utility for them.  It was probably for some sort of a hobby of hers, but Althea bore no interest in knowing more details.  “Anyways, I found one of those mages and released them.”

“What?!  Seriously?!”  Yuklo’s intense surprise led her to knock over her woven basket, the contents flowing out to the earth.  The little girl hastily moved to fix her mistake, but not before Althea spotted the glint of a knife at the bottom of the basket.  “A-Anyways,”  The other blonde quickly recovered her composure, “Where are they now?”

“Oh, they’re still in the forest.  They wanted to deal with the villagers, so they’re going to be sticking around.  I brought it up because they need food from the village, so I thought you could deal--help with that.”  The ribbon wearing mage corrected herself.

“Althea, could you take me to them?”  The little girl got to her feet, eyes brimming with anticipation.

“Oh, yeah, I can tell that they’re… in this direction.”  After pinpointing Nat’s location via her magic signature, the dragon slayer began trudging through the foliage.

“What!?  Oh, it’s just Althea.”  The fair found Nat with her face inside a bush, leaves buried in her sandy blonde hair.  Initially, she had tensed up as the sound of people moving towards her, but after identifying the water mage, she immediately loosened her body.  “So did you already bring food for meeEEE?”  Then, with Yuklo’s appearance, she once again fell into a panic.  The little girl seemed to be just a tad bit embarrassed by the reaction, but her eyes also reflected pity.  Well, if you heard someone needed food even though they’re in the forest and then found them searching around foliage, anyone would feel bad.

“Yeah, so this is Yuklo.  Yuklo, this is Nat.”  Althea quickly breezed through introductions, gesturing to the parties in question.  “Anyways, what are you doing in those bushes, Nat?  I thought you couldn’t tell poisonous things apart.”  She remarked, attempting to find an item of interest that would’ve prompted her to do so.

“No way, I’m just looking for firewood.  I need to set up camp far enough that the village doesn’t notice me.”  The teen replied astutely, shooting down the water mage’s words.  Honestly, if Althea was in her shoes she would’ve already left by now.  She had polished her survival skills to such a degree that living out in the forest was a simple task, especially when you compared them to the Phoenix Mountains.  Over there, finding edible foliage was rare, so you were better off spending all your time hunting and placing traps.  But then a snowstorm would roll in and you’d have to brave freezing night after freezing night on an empty stomach.  And when it settled down, you’d realize that all your traps were destroyed or raided during the storm, leaving you with enough energy to either find some creature that died in the storm, go hunting, or die.  “Anyways, what the hell are you doing with that child, Althea??  I recognize her from the village, and she’s one of the biggest brats out there!”

“Sorry, I just wanted to somehow convince you to leave without being too obvious,”  Yuklo replied with a coolness uncommon for her age.

“The amount of times you went out of your way to harass me--Althea, are you sure this person is a trustworthy individual?  She might go ratting us out to all the adults in town.”  Nat’s amber eyes were serious.

“W-Wait!  I won’t tell anyone about it, okay?  I’m on your side!”  The little girl insisted, her voice becoming slightly sporadic.

“Yeah, it’s fine,”  Althea interjected smoothly, making sure that no one was close enough to hear the two arguing.

Nat’s gaze bore into the small girl, the other party seeming to shrivel up a bit in the face of it.  However, after only a few more moments, her suspicious glare was replaced by a warm smile.  “Okay, I believe you.  After all, Althea did me a major favor so I owe her.”  She leaned over to lightly pat the top of Yuklo’s head, “Now I understand why you tormented me.  Still, I understand.  Anyways, I’m Natalia Nahsdraker, it’s a pleasure to meet you.  But please, call me Nat.”  According to the slayer’s memories, she didn’t recall that being Nat’s last name.  In fact, it just seemed like a mash-up of her old last name and Nahs, that name of that dragon of misfortune.  Well, the situation was kind of complicated, so she was free to do whatever she wanted.  The teenager turned to Althea, her hand still on Yuklo’s head.  “I’ve known that kid for a while, and she never came off as the type to have many friends, so thanks for sticking with her despite her weirdness.”

Althea’s eyes widened in shock, “Not the type?!”

“Oh, w-we’re not really friends!  It’s just that I met Althea a while ago when she saved my village.”  Her shock had been absolutely ignored by both parties.  Just what kind of impression did she give to make other’s evaluations of her so low?

“What?  Althea’s been here before?”

“No, I lived in a different village before… before I came here.”  Yuklo’s eyes were downcast.

“Oh, it must’ve been hard to move away from all your friends, wasn’t it?  But don’t worry, I’m sure you can go back after we solve the problem in this village.”  Nat comforted her, patting the little girl’s back.  “I met Althea a while ago too, and I can assure you she’s pretty darn strong for a--hey Thea, how old are you?”

Come to think of it, she never actually bothered with telling people her age, allowing them to draw any conclusions of their own.  The youth was aware she was on the younger side for mages, but a lot of people overestimated just how young that was.  “Fifteen.”

“Yeah, for a fifteen year--WAIT, WHAT?”  Nat let out the loudest exclamation thus far.  “I… could’ve sworn you were just a kid though!”

“Well, I didn’t think my age mattered that much, so I never mentioned it.”

“Huh?  What?  That--Yuklo, how old are you?”

“Oh, um, I’m turning twelve this year.”  The little girl replied, seeming to be a bit embarrassed about the fact she was the youngest party there.

“Huh, what?  I mean, I guess you’re just small for your age, but I could’ve sworn you were around ten years old.”  Nat muttered, Yuklo’s face displaying her dismay.  That was also the number that Althea guessed when she first saw the smaller blonde, but she guessed that explained her actions a bit better.  “Anyways, I can understand you, but now Althea.  What kind of teenager are you?”  Nat cast her analytical gaze towards the other youth.

“My age doesn’t matter as much as where you’re setting up camp.  Do you want me to help you out with that?”

“What?  Stuff like that matters?”  Nat tilted her head to the side quizically.

“Oh yeah, especially with dangerous beasts all over the place.  I need to put you in some no man’s land so that you don’t disturb the balance too much.”  There were all kinds of predators on the Phoenix mountains, but if Althea ever set up camp in the wrong place she could cause an inconvenience for the villages farther down the peaks.  “I can tell where the prime predators will be, so just follow me~”  She chirped before turning and heading for deeper within the forest.

It didn’t take long for the trio to travel even deeper into the forest, weaving between fallen trees and dense foliage.  But with Althea’s senses, there wouldn’t be any danger of getting lost, and she knew exactly where she was going.  Eventually, they made their way to a pleasant clearing, a small creek flowing between a rocky scar in the earth.  The presence of freshwater would attract predator and prey alike, but from the variety of scents, she could tell that it was a highly contested area.  But that just meant that no one was entirely dependent on it, so Nat simply needed to conquer the land for herself.  And with that, Althea and Yuklo’s excursion to the forest was over, the two girls heading back for the mysterious forest.

“Oh, it’s Yuklo.”  The smiling woman the slayer encountered before once more made her appearance.  “I was looking for you, so the mage was with you?”  Her dark eyes traveled to the little girl’s woven basket.  “Little dumpling, you should’ve told me before going out and playing in the forest.”

The younger blonde smiled cheerfully, offering the basket to the woman.  “It’s fine, auntie!  I know the forest and I had Althea to protect me too!  But look, I brought back plenty of delicious berries and herbs.”  She was wearing the same mask she always seemed to in the village, perfectly playing the part of an innocent child.  But now that she’d made an effort to watch the villager’s expressions more carefully, Althea felt that something malicious about the older woman’s otherwise kind expression.

The woman lightly petted Yuklo’s head, “What a sweet girl, I’m glad we took you in after that awful accident happened in your old village.”  The little girl stiffened, her bright blue eyes glued to her feet.  “You were in such a sorry state when you came to this village, but everyone here helped give you a place here.  Now you’ve been here for a while, and everyone considers you part of the family.”  The woman receded her hand, a smile spreading across her features that came off as genuine for the first time since Althea's met her.  “Now, it’s late, so why don’t we go have dinner?  Your uncle’s been out working all day, so do you girls think you can help me out with cooking?”

“Ah, I can’t navigate a kitchen, so I won’t be having dinner with you guys.”  The dragon slayer wasn’t one to deny an offer of food, especially seeing as she wasn’t in the middle of combat, but she simply wasn’t in the mood.  Some may say that moving through the mystery village while trying not to attract negative attention would be enough, but she wasn’t really making an attempt to discourage suspicion.  Althea could make pretty convincing lies for the sake of convenience, but having to pretend after all the faking she had to do in the past was exhausting.  In fact, if the villagers hurried up and began openly being aggressive, it would make her job a lot easier.  She wasn’t sure if the Magic Council would allow her to start decimating a rural village despite the concrete facts, so she might as well wait until they instigated things.  Either way, there was no need for Althea to eat anyways, even back when she struggled to survive in the Phoenix Mountains.  Well, she would still starve, but it wasn’t like she’d die or anything.

“Oh, that’s fine.  You’re a guest, so at least join us at the table.  You can stay at our house overnight and then I’ll tell you the job details tomorrow morning.  I’m actually the village chief, so it’s part of my duties to make sure you're accommodated.”

Oh, so she actually intended to slipping something into the food?  Althea had given her the benefit of the doubt, but with all the evidence she’d gathered there probably wasn’t even a job in the first place.  The woman intended on dealing with the youth before tomorrow’s sun had risen.  What a welcome change of pace, had she felt that much suspicion towards her?  The youth grinned, “If that’s the case then I guess I have to.”  Yuklo turned a shocked glance towards the other blonde, something that hadn’t escaped the woman’s onlooking gaze.

“I’m glad that you understand,”  Her false smile widened, “Yuklo, I’m going to have to rely on you to make the food, alright?  Now, let’s go home.”  She cast one last sharp gaze in the little girl’s direction before treading down the mysterious town’s streets, the two girls following in her wake.

The group arrived at a homely looking cottage in very little time, the town chief leading the girls inside.  It was decorated in a typical way for a village but displayed just how well off they were.  The wooden floorboards were covered by soft animal skins, there were several pieces of furniture and even a potted plant.  Additionally, they had enough funds to afford to have a second story, making the house the biggest one in town.

“Please, make yourself at home.”  The smiling woman said, turning on a lacrima lamp to further illuminate the room.  “Yuklo and I will be in the kitchen, so just call if you need anything.”  She deftly led the silent girl out of the living quarters, letting Althea remain in the room by herself.

The dragon slayer let out a sigh, allowing herself to sink into what seemed to be the comfiest chair available. She could tell the woman was speaking to Yuklo in a hushed voice at the moment, but she had no interest in eavesdropping. Well, she would soon be served some food, so trying out the local cuisine should be something to look forward to. The fact it was poisoned wasn’t a concern, the only substances that had any real effect on Althea were ones made to kill or those of magical nature. And even in cases like those, she could detoxify herself, in the same manner, she’d gotten rid of the curse. So her plan of action for the evening was clear: eat some food, falsify the effects of the drug, and finally get attacked by the villagers. If she caught them red-handed, they’d have no choice other than to bear their fangs at her.

But from the sound of the footsteps approaching the house, she wouldn’t be bored while she waited. “Honey, I’m home! Oh, a visitor?” A burly middle-aged man entered the home, a bag of coins on his waist.

The smiling woman poked her head out of the kitchen, “I’m making dinner right now with Yuklo, so just rest. You had a hard day at work, right?” Her eyes traveled to the youth, “That’s the mage that took the job. She only just got here, but has already become good friends with our little dumpling.”

“Oh really?” The man wore a jovial smile, but it was painfully obvious he was trying to get some kind of estimate of Althea’s strength. She wasn’t sure what about the woman’s words had hinted that she was a threat, but the man was looking at her with a fight in mind. But if they had specifically asked for a strong mage to come to their aid, how come this guy was underestimating her? Still, she might as well play long so that they hurried up and openly showed hostility towards her.

“Yeah, I’m Althea, nice to meet you.” She interjected plainly.

The smiling woman’s dark gaze traveled back to the man, “Alright, I’ll be returning to the kitchen, so look forward to a roasted rabbit.” She announced before disappearing back into the kitchen.

“Roasted rabbit… man, I love that stuff. Look forward to my wife’s cooking, she can make one hell of a dish.” The man uttered, placing his sack of coins on a table before settling down in the chair across from Althea’s. “Either way, what do you think about the town?”

“I mean, it seems pretty normal to me,” Althea said, shrugging. “I spent most of my time today ou in the forest, so I didn’t bother to explore.”

“Oh really? Our forest is a pretty dangerous place. Did you find anything interesting while looking around?” The man probed her, but it wasn’t like the youth had any reason to outright lie.

“Oh, right, there was a weird hatch in the middle of the forest.” The man’s eyes narrowed, but he more or less masked the emotion with a smile, “Do you know anything about it?”

“Hmm, that does sound rather suspicious, I think it may have something to do with the job you’ll be completing.” The man mused, scratching the stubble on his chin. “But anyway, you seem to have made quick friends with Yuklo. That’s good, she doesn’t tend to associate with the rest of the kids in the village.”

“So that’s the case?”

“Indeed, and although I hate to admit it, I feel like it was the fault of my wife and me.” For once, he began faking sorrow rather than jolliness. “Back when she lived in Beanstalk Village, there was this huge incident regarding her grandfather, the one who had been raising her until then. He had been killed by a demon of all things, but for some reason Yuklo was the main suspect.” For some reason, Althea felt as if she was hearing things that she would rather hear directly from the person involved. “She was covered in blood and was the only one there when the incident occurred, so people assumed it was her handiwork. What a bunch of despicable people, believing such an innocent child could commit a heinous crime.” It was then that the man’s expression switched instantly from gloom to his previous false smile. “We heard the news, so my wife and I decided to take her in. We didn’t want to hide anything, so we told the rest of the village, but,” He shook his head in a disapproving manner. “They’re just kids, so you can’t blame them for being scared of her. So that’s why I can’t help but be glad you managed to befriend her so quickly.”

His warm smile would suggest he was happy, but the darkness in his eyes said otherwise. What was he even trying to do by telling that story, shake her trust in Yuklo? She wasn’t as naive as they believed her, so it wasn’t like Althea immediately trusted anyone who drew arms against her. Still, the little girl had done so while hiding her bloodlust, it was like she was a trained killer. But whether she did kill her grandfather or not, the water mage was in no place to judge. The Angel of Dreams was basically her biological sister, but that hadn’t stopped them from dueling to the death. But then again, amongst angels there wasn’t a familial bond in the first place.

Before Althea could let out a reply, the smiling woman had already emerged from the kitchen along with Yuklo. And looking at the plates they were holding, she couldn’t help but be glad she decided to have dinner. The scent of roasted rabbit had already wafted to her location but seeing it enhanced her desire to eat it. The little girl handed the blonde her plate before taking a seat of her own. From her indomitably cheerful smile, the slayer could tell she had probably been threatened to some degree by the smiling woman. Maybe they thought she wouldn’t expect to be handed a poisoned dish if the giver was Yuklo, but it made zero difference to her. She would’ve eaten the poultry if the demon lurking in the town had given it to her.

“Thanks for the food,” Althea said before digging in. She could tell Yuklo flinched a bit when she took her first mouthful of food, but the slayer was too preoccupied at the moment to care. Tasting poison every time she ate was a headache, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t get used to. “Wow, this is incredible.”

The woman laughed, also enjoying her plate of rabbit. “Thank you, I’m proud to say I’m one of the best cooks in the village.”

The more the Fairy Tail mage ate, the drowsier she got. She was surprised that the villagers hadn’t given her something more lethal, but it worked out for her purposes. Going to take a nap after enjoying a nice meal always felt nice. “Ahh, finished, thanks for feeding me tonight.” She had finished her plate faster than anyone else, but Althea admitted that she was a quick eater. If you want to cram as much food as possible down your throat, you’d have to get through each plate quickly. “Okay, I’m headed to bed, where am I sleeping?”

“Upstairs on the left,” Yuklo replied, her eyes glued to her barely touched dinner, “We’ll be sharing a room.”

“Sounds good, well, so you guys in the morning.” The water mage said before getting to her feet and heading for Yuklo’s room. It seemed as if they were ready for her sleeping in their house because a mattress was waiting for her on the floor. She hadn’t brought any pajamas to sleep in, but the only thing Althea needed to do to get comfortable enough was to remove her blazer and tie. Remembering to detoxify herself of the substances laced into her food, she soon slid into the mattress for a good night’s rest. It didn’t take long for a pajama-wearing Yuklo to join her, quietly closing the bedroom door behind herself.

“Hey, Althea, are you asleep?” She whispered, her voice strained, “Actually, nevermind, I know you are since I-” Her voice was caught in her throat. Even without looking at the little girl, Althea could hear the sniffling and soft sobbing. “I-I don’t understand why we're doing this! They say that it’s the will of their god, but what god?! I haven’t seen that great being anywhere! Leave your sorrow in the god of darkness’s hands? Where was he when Granddad was killed!” Yuklo leaped into her bed, burying her face in her pillow. “That demon… even though I had gotten stronger to protect everyone, I was… I was too scared! Granddad, he protected me, but th-the blood…!” Her cries intensified. “Why am I here? Why is this happening? Why is everyone dying?!” The little girl continued to sob until she finally exhausted herself, falling into a deep slumber.


Althea wasn’t completely sure what woke her up first, the hushed footsteps or the murmurs. It was obvious the villagers weren’t very good assassins, hence their reliance on drugs, but she’d at least expected something. Sure, the substances were so potent that they were even effective against strong mages, but it wasn’t like she was the only person out there who had a counter to poison. There were only two of them, and neither of them were mages. From the sound of the weapons clanging around on their utility belts, they planned to transport her elsewhere before killing her. Well, she guessed they didn’t want to get blood on the mattress when other mages needed to be kidnapped. However, the moment one of the villagers reached out to drag her out of bed, Althea’s eyes shot open. Then, without allowing a moment of reaction, she cut the assailant's head off with a flying blade of water.

“What the-?” The other villager barely got out a few words before the slayer put a bullet of water between their eyes.

The mage looked over her handiwork, satisfied with the quick, clean way she’d dealt with them. Usually, she’d just punch them, but that’d cause a huge mess all over Yuklo’s room. Speaking of which, Althea moved to wake up the little girl, shaking her gently. “Psst, hey Yuklo,”

The girl rubbed her puffy eyes, turning towards Althea lethargically. “Huh, wha- What!?” Her crystal blue eyes widened in shock, “Althea?! What- but you- I smell blood?!”

“I’m fine, don’t sweat the details. More importantly, I’m planning on destroying this village now, so hurry up and get dressed.” She urged, reclaiming her blazer and tie. “I’m going to make sure this place isn’t here by the time the sun rises.”

Yuklo was flabbergasted, but at the mention of the village’s destruction she hastily moved to put on her usual clothes. She seemed shocked at the sight of the corpses but was able to tentatively move around them and out of the room. The sound of her running around was a bit loud, but Althea’s senses told her they were the only people left in the cottage. “Okay, I’m… I’m ready!” The smaller blonde soon returned to the room wearing the same clothes she had earlier that day. However, there were the new additions of a bow and an array of poison covered daggers in her woven basket. “I can defend myself to some degree, so please let me help out!”

Althea nodded, grinned, “Sure, why not, you seemed trained enough. Anyways, let’s get going to the forest. That way we won’t get caught up in the spell.” Yuklo seemed to be curious about what exactly she was talking about but remained silent as they exited the cottage. It didn’t take long for the pair to enter the forest, briskly heading towards the mysterious hatch. After all, Althea still felt like she should take care of whatever demonic entity dwelled in the underground facility. But before she forgot, the slayer turned towards the town, summoning forth a seismic wave to level the buildings. The crashing waters resounded through the forests, and she could tell all the life in the village had been extinguished in a single spell.

“I-It’s all gone…?” Yuklo was dazed, her stunned expression illuminated by the moonlight.

“Oh, did you forget to bring something with you?”

“No, that’s not it, don’t mind me!” The little girl insisted, forcing herself to turn away from the direction of the ruined village. But it wouldn’t take long until Althea’s advance towards the hatch was interrupted once again.

“You two! What happened in the village? I heard a loud noise, so I came here as fast as possible!” Nat appeared from the depths of the forest, lightning crackling over her body. As far as Althea could tell, it was some kind of mobility spell that helped her arrive in such a short period.

“That was me, I just wanted to make sure I destroyed it.” The slayer answered lightly, “Anyways, I’m headed for the demonic aura in the village’s creepy basement.”

“Huh?! Demonic?!” Nat was rendered dumbfounded.

“Althea, you mean this place has something to do with a demon?!” Yuklo exclaimed, her visage anxious.

“Oh, I thought everyone could already tell.” Althea murmured, rather confounded by the situation herself. It didn’t take a detective to identify the malicious energy of a demon. “Anyways, we’ve got no time to waste. I doubt that all the villagers were in the town when I destroyed it.” She pressed, prompting Nat’s expression to darken.

“Alright, I’ll be tagging along… but are you sure we should be bringing Yuklo?”

“I’m trained!” And with that, the group ventured deeper within the woods until they finally arrived at the clearing and hatch.

The slayer moved to enter a combination, “What was it again? Ah, right,” She murmured to herself before unlocking the hatch.

Althea had entered the complex without breaking anything, but a confused yet disapproving look spreading across Nat’s face. “You should be more careful with that, if you entered the wrong code you would've gotten cursed. Speaking of which, how did you even know what it was? You didn’t run into any villagers when you came in.”

“Oh, I just guessed it.” She replied plainly, moving to climb down to hatch.

“You gue-?!” The sandy blonde let out a stressed sigh as she watched the younger disappear down the hatch. “Althea, you must have some fantastic luck.” She murmured to herself before descending into the complex’s dark depths.


“The situation is dire, we require the emergence of our dark lord.” The town’s lumberjack was on his knees, bowing as he addressed a woman dressed in black priest’s robes. She was the woman who served as the town’s chief, Yuklo’s caregiver, but more importantly the head of the town’s cult. She had been the one blessed the most by their god’s favor, possessing magical abilities that dwarfed most of the mages that had come to their village. “I don’t understand exactly how, but the village has been utterly destroyed.”

The dark priestess frowned. “Could it have something to do with the person who unlocked the hatch?” She asked, her gaze severe. As the one who’d set up the lock mechanism, she of all people would be able to tell how many times someone failed to get in. However, that night when she checked, she’d discovered someone had attempted to input code thousands of times before finally unlocking the hatch and setting free the last sacrifice they’d needed. Just the thought confounded her, the woman was positive that whoever tried to put in an incorrect code would immediately die, and if they tried following in afterwards there was another mechanism that’d reveal their presence. “The fact our village was destroyed and someone intruded out holy grounds does mean the situation is incredibly dire…” But despite her words, the dark priestess had a deranged smile, “I guess that that only leaves desperate action, so I shall become the final sacrifice to our dark lord.”

The rest of the townsfolk who had been looking on in silence erupted in applause, a few even crying out of happiness. Each one of them regarded their lord with the highest of reverence, and the priestess offering herself up to him deserved the greatest of praises. They just needed to go on with the procession, and soon they’d be face to face with their god.


Althea’s eyes widened slightly as she felt the heavy dissonance of the nearby magic energy. She, Yuklo, and Nat had been making their way through the underground facility at a rather rapid pace, taking care of the townsfolk as they saw them. Well, to be honest she was the one doing most of the work, the other two were simply looking on at the massacre in shocked silence. But it turned out she wouldn’t need to decorate every room with blood because someone else had already beaten her to the punch.

“They summoned a demon.” She uttered, a shiver running through her peanut gallery’s spines. The slayer guessed that the reason the whole place stank so much of a devilish aura was because of the village’s little project that had just now come into fruition. But from the pure malicious aura she felt from it, they were probably going to have the same treatment as if they came across Althea.

One of the villagers sprawled across the floor laughed maniacally, “It’s too late for you now that out dark god has descended. It’s through his gifts that we wield the power of blood and shadow, but our lord’s power is far beyond that of a mere mortal. Revel in his dark aura and-”

“Yeah, okay.” Althea reduced his head to a messy pulp on the stony floor. It struck her as odd that a bunch of humans thought of a demon as a god, but it was even weirder that said demon allowed them to use magic. She turned towards Nat and Yuklo, “Okay guys, it may get a bit messy, so make sure you don’t die.”

“Messy? I’m pretty sure we’ve already seen enough messy things for the night.” The older girl laughed dryly, averting her gaze from the head pulp covering Althea’s shoe.

But she soon shut up the moment the sound of footsteps approached. But the figure that arrived at the bloodied room wasn't the demon, it was the man Althea had met at Yuklo’s house. “Well well well, didn’t expect it to be you three who invaded our sacred grounds.” The gruff man said, his false smile now replaced by a manic grin.

“Two mages who were meant to be sacrifices and the little demonic brat. Sad to say you’re all going to die before you have the pleasure of looking upon our great lord’s face.” Yuklo stiffened as the man who she had referred to as uncle referred to her with such a demeaning title. “We only took you in because the priestess insisted you’d be a good successor. Too bad, brat, maybe you could’ve had the chance to become the final sacrifice instead of my wife.” Nat gazed at him with eyes full of hatred, barely able to keep herself silent. “However, the magic my dark lord granted me is sure to kill all three of you. I’m not sure how you got past it, but I can inflict the same curse as failing the hatch combination. Do you know it manifests itself differently every time? I wonder how each of you will end up dying.”

“Okay, enough talking, let’s get to fighting,” Althea uttered, raising her fists.

“No, as this won’t even be a fight. Before you can even get close to me-” The youth ignored him, diving straight for the man to deal a blow to his gut. “Fool! You stepped into my range, now you- huh?” However, instead of falling into a fit of painful spasms, spitting blood, or expressing any sign of the curse, she instead created a gaping hole in the middle-aged man’s stomach. It wasn’t that the curse hadn’t worked, it was just that Althea had already built a resistance to it. Sadly, the fight was decided before it already began, but soon the real match was about to begin.

“Okay you two,” She turned to the stunned Nat and Yuklo, “The demon’s headed this way and I’m going to pummel it. Wait outside please.”

Yuklo seemed to want to protest, but Nat quickly placed her hand on the little girl’s shoulder, “Yuklo, honey, listen to me,” Her face was pale as her amber eyes were trained on the location of the demon. “I can tell that thing is on the same level as my sister. Even I can’t think of a single way we’d be able to help.” Althea didn’t recall Nat’s twin Nadia being particularly strong, but apparently things had changed. Maybe that was the reason they weren’t traveling together as they did in the past.

But in front of Nat’s dead serious words, Yuklo nodded stiffly, “Alright, I’ll go.” She gazed at the Fairy Tail mage, her eyes glossy with tears. “Althea, you better beat that guy up for all the suffering he’s caused, okay?”

“Yeah, will do.”

And with that, the two members of her peanut gallery made their hasty retreat. Althea was left alone in the cobblestone room with the corpses, but it wasn’t long until the deafening sound of footsteps came closer and closer.

“I just woke up, but I’m so damn hungry. Is no one in this place even a just bit tasty?” The demon lamented as it entered the room. It had the same appearance as the woman who’d lived with Yuklo but instead dressed in a black priest’s garb instead of village clothes. “Oh?” Despite having Althea standing in its range of sight, the demon didn’t truly notice her until its gaze traveled across the corpses. “Did something interesting wander into my little nest?” A cruel smile reminiscent spread across its visage, its malicious aura magnifying.

“Hiya demon, I’m going to be killing you now.” The youth declared, placing her hands on her hips.

However, her opponent simply laughed. “I don’t think you understand my strength, little girl. You may have magic power, but I doubt you’ll be able to slay me.”

“Sure, whatever. Let’s just get this started, okay?” And with that the exchange began. The water mage sought to rush in but was quickly intercepted by tendrils of darkness. She nimbly avoided the sweeping strikes, firing a water bullet at the demon whilst doing so. It landed right in the center of its chest but seemed to deal a minimum degree of damage.

The dark overlord smiled, “I thought you were going to be the one to kill me, is that all you have?” But his words didn’t phase Althea in the slightest, who just reckoned she’d have to increase the firepower of her attacks. As she readied yet another water bullet, a crimson magic circle formed at her fingertips, changing the water’s color to blood red. What followed was a relentless barrage of said red bullets, each one aimed deftly at the demon’s vitals. However, when the smoke cleared the creature still wore that disgusting smile. It was more or less unharmed by the spells, which was a first for the slayer ever since she learned how to use them. “Foolish mortal, using a blood spell on me, the dark overlord! I possess invulnerability to anything you throw at me, so just sit back and die girl.”

He launched a beam of condensed shadow, but the youth simply rolled out of the way. “So you possess resistance to those kinds of spells? At least try mentioning it first,” She sighed. The spells she’d used weren’t very mana friendly, so it was saddening to find she’d wasted her magic power on nothing. Usually infusing her blood into her spells increased their effectiveness, but it seemed that against this enemy that wasn’t the case. However, it wasn’t like the only magic she possessed was Water Dragon Slayer magic. The young girl smoothly evaded the demon’s onslaught of darkness beams as yet another magic circle formed at her fingertips.

“Ha, you still refuse to cease your struggle? What a mortal-like thing to-”

“Holytide.” With those words, a beam of Althea’s own was released from her finger. Its energy was pure white, and the bloodied room was engulfed in a blinding light. The youth stood still as she received the recoil from her spell, but when the light finally receded, all any trace of the dead bodies that had filled the room were incinerated. The whole place stank of burnt human flesh and the only thing that remained of the town’s dark overlord was a pile of ashes.

The slayer let out a sigh, stretching her fingers as she looked over the empty room. “I guess it was supereffective.” She murmured to herself. After all, that hadn’t been close to being the strongest spell she had, and yet it’d defeated the demon in one hit. “Talk about being specialized,” Althea remarked as she turned around and headed out of the underground complex. It was about time that she left the remote village--or at least what remained of it not that all the inhabitants were dead. “I wonder if Yuklo would be okay if I just dropped her back off at Beanstalk Village…”