CHAPTER 438: ARC 6, CHAPTER 54: POISON

The rushing footsteps were of cultists grabbing papers and files. Torchlight flickered and lit up at random while the sound of falling glass rained outside of the alcove they were deposited into.

Dashing waves of greyish-silver stone surged past the opening and there was a distant flash of golden-yellow electricity arcing every now and again.

Ben eyes wandered unknowingly upwards the long smooth legs that were veiled by a dark green dress. Adorned in jewellery and a golden circlet once more, the Poison Feather kicked the sharp tip of her shoe into Ben’s face, shoving it aside.

He grunted and rolled over while the Poison Feather surveyed their faces in the flickering torchlight. "Ma’am, these are? Do we?" a couple of the cultists paused in their panic and aimed a few muskets at the intruders.

Feather flipped some of her green hair, jingling some of her chains alongside it, "Leave them, your priority is to evacuate. Lest you defy the orders of the new Gods."

"R-right," another replied as they ran out of the alcove. Behind Feather was an emptied table made of a raised platform of stone.

"It was about time," Feather calmly spoke to the two fallen at the back, the wolf-girl and the magician. "I was worried we’d never meet again," she crossed her arms. "Oh wait, no I wasn’t."

"Do you always... just go around doing as, much evil as you can?" Hotaru got up onto her elbows and knees—the nausea made her almost vomit from the strained movement.

"Who’s the hot dragon lady...?" Ben hazily muttered.

"Dragon? That’s a new one," Feather’s tail whipped in the air.

"Poison Feather, poisoned a lot of people, almost killed Arabella and Daiyu," Asobi was on her feet, but she was dizzily spinning around in the same spot.

"Recurring villain, dammit," Ben held onto his shoulder while trying to get up. "BLAST!!!" The entire cave rumbled and quaked from the thunder as chunks of greyish-silver stone came shooting through the alcove and across the cavern floor.

Everyone trying to get up fell back down, except Asobi who planted her face into the side of the cave. The raven-haired elf rubbed her nose, "Why are you with the cult?" she asked to a rock.

"So many things to do darlings, I must bid farewell," Feather checked her wrist, only then to eye the redhead. "Your lover causes quite the ruckus; she’s becoming extremely annoying.

Should I kill her, or, would ending your miserable life be the end of hers too? Certainly would make it more interesting of a spectacle to see," a hummingbird of sickly-green hue spawned in the palm of her hand.

Hotaru lifted her head, bared her fangs and snarled.

"Shf!""TCK!"

From the floor an arrow was shot for Feather’s head, but it was blocked by a mass of spindling dark green vines that emerged from the ground beneath her heels. "Tch," Feather brought the tendrils down.

Clyde rolled from his prone position and aimed another arrow—his joints shook yet he remained steady and firm even on the ground.

"AHhhhhh..." a few ripples of silvery-white echoes thudded and ripped into the vines, making Feather wince an eye and tilt her head. Tiffany’s spell faded into nothing more than vibrational noise.

"Well this has been delightful," Feather leaned back and fell into a throne of emerging vines that carried her out of the alcove. "But I really must be off," she blew a kiss.

Emerging from that kiss however, were hundreds of enlarging greenish-blue crows that shot forth like needles.

"Ngeh!" Asobi flourished her wand down and made a giant butterfly of white light before them. "TSs! Zss! HSS! Tsh!""SHtck!"

Most of them were incinerated in the light, or the ones that made it past shot and turned into a splatter of greenish glitter against the cave—all except one...

With the barrage of crows gone, alongside their summoner, they watched ahead as the rumbles mellowed and no thunder echoed. Rocks and rubble fell, the torchlight flickered further and further away.

Ben got onto his feet, followed by Tiffany who checked ahead and around. The butterfly poofed into white specks before Asobi helped Hotaru up. "Fight’s not over yet," Ben reached an arm for Clyde.

Clyde took it and hoisted himself up, holding his bow ready in his other hand. "I’ll say mate. We stood against a new god and the cult? I’m sure we’ll get drinks for the stories," with a smile, the elf nudged an elbow into the armour.

"Are you okay?" Asobi queried.

"I don’t think I’ve ever felt this drained before," Hotaru leaned on her to stand.

"You can siphon some of mine if you want," as Asobi said that, she stumbled to the right from the weight of the redhead and steadied herself by shoving her shoulder against the cave wall.

"I don’t think that’s a good idea," Hotaru replied.

"Colwyn, come on, we’re not done yet, we still need to get out of here," Clyde crouched down to tend to his unconscious sister. The half of her face visible seemed peaceful, some of her flaxen hair fallen behind her pointy ear.

"Can I get a tad bit of light?" Clyde queried, to which Asobi made a small ball of light in the roof of the alcove. He rolled his twin to the side, "I think someone’s going to have to carry her, she exhausted herself out- Wh..."

Under the light now, Clyde looked at Colwyn’s face. From a puncture mark in her neck, dark bluish-green veins webbed towards her face and under the collar of her clothing—the grip on her staff had not shifted.

"H-h-HELP! She’s, she’s been poisoned, one of them got her, I think!" the panic screams immediately got everyone’s attention.

Hotaru’s ears pricked and she stumbled towards the twins, aided by Asobi before she nearly fell. "What, dude, no way, she’s not- There’s," Ben stammered through his words while looming over them.

Tears ran from Clyde’s eyes as the poison continued to spread through her lips and eyes. "C-cc-can you fix her? Heal her!?" he shouted.

The redhead grunted onto her knees and set Colwyn’s head on her lap and off of Clyde’s. Her ears folded while she examined the puncture wound and as she forced her hands to cast a spell, she was met with a sharp buzz in the back of her mind.

She winced and had nothing but bare fingers against Colwyn’s skin. "I’m sorry..." Hotaru uttered with her lips pursed.

"SORRY!? Don’t be sorry, help her!" Clyde yelled.

The wolf-girl kept her eyes closed, "I don’t have enough mana, especially not for Feather’s poison of all things, I truly am sorry," she stomached down the nausea.

Clyde began to breathe faster and faster, his eyes darting around and to the corpse of his sister. He pressed his hands against his twin’s chest, "Her heart, her heart’s still beating, she’s not dead!"

Tiffany glanced on with shock, frozen in place. Her shoulders rose and her eyes began to water, even under the eyepatch. At first she was ready to cry, but... then her shoulders fell, dourly accepting reality.

Hotaru’s lips tightened even further, "The heart’s the reason the poison’s spreading, it can still beat after- Fine, how much mana does everyone have, let me siphon it," she replied.

Asobi gave her palm, while the pale blonde shook her head silently. The raven-haired elf made a squeak being siphoned by the redhead.

Clyde threw his arm in front, however Hotaru pushed it away, "Whatever you had has already been drained. Doing more will just kill you. Ben?" she looked to.

The armoured figure never shifted. He was staring down the corpse as the sound around him began to ring in his ears. His own heartbeat drummed in the back of his head and his vision grew hazy with each blink.

"Hey! HEY!" "CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!" Clyde banged on Ben’s knee.

"H-huh, oh," Ben dazedly gave his armoured hand to the redhead.

"Take it off, quickly," Hotaru’s brows furrowed.

"Right..." He took off his gauntlet and let her siphon his hand.

The redhead began to sweat, "This is hardly anything," she hushed a complaint and started to attempt to remove the poison from Colwyn. The puncture mark began to heal and the veins lightened in hue.

Clyde exhaled in relief, "Ah, okay, see everything is," he gulped, "Fine."

"It’s not," Hotaru’s spell faded and while the marks around the neck were healed, the poison was still across the rest of her skin. "Rejuvenate," she casted onto herself, alleviating the nausea at the very least before she attempted again.

"Is she...?" Tiffany spoke up.

"She’s already been-" Hotaru paused and looked to Clyde who was about to burst, "If you want any hope, there’s still two people who might have enough mana, assuming they haven’t been spent themselves."

"The Blade," Clyde got up on shaky knees and took steps back. "I’ll get the," he nodded, unable to finish the sentence as he almost tripped while running out of the alcove.

"Is there actually hope?" Asobi kneeled down and combed Colwyn’s hair aside.

Looking to the magician, Hotaru sombrely shook her head.

_

Heavy panting came to a halt as she composed herself; she stood tall, all four arms prepared for another round. A few strands of shimmering silver hair had come loose from the braid and the bloodlust in her eyes dimmed.

"Are you done?" Ceridwen’s voice cooed right behind her.

Forallei turned, "You... What, happened?" her words seethed through her teeth—the regained composure was about to re-break.

Ceridwen floated in the air on her ghostly seat, one head cocked to the side, "The overture has been conducted, the prominent performance is yet to be enacted."

"The plan-"

"Has been weaved perfectly as always. Need I remind you Forallei, you are not Godwin," Ceridwen whispered.

Forallei’s eye twitched. "You dare risk Beauregard’s life?"

"Her life was a risk since birth, you know that as well as I. I believe she will perform just fine. You however, were struggling with the offspring of the detective who ended your beloved’s life and the vision he had for all our futures with it."

Stone emerged in slates and reached to grapple Ceridwen, but the spirit-mage effortlessly drifted to the side with a flick of her wrist. "Now, now."

Forallei’s rage died down alongside the stone, now gravel. "I can take your life Ceridwen, watch your tongue..."

"I am aware," Ceridwen’s eyes stayed unamused. "For now, our departure awaits. What of the prince however?"

"I worry not for his wellbeing. Let us depart at once," from the darkness they were in, they disappeared further into the cavern, no longer in the fray.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pillar, sprawled across the walkway was a blonde in tattered enchanted attire and breathing heavily.

"Woosh." "I think, they’re gone," Fumeko leaned her back into the railing.

Jotou lit up her hand with sparks, "Yipee, success," she sighed.

"Success?" the brunette raised a brow.

"We’re not done yet though," Jotou rolled over and pushed down against the metal mesh before popping up herself with a jump and a huff of her breath. She picked up her sword, "We need to be somewhere else, fast."

"Where and why?" Fumeko sheathed her dagger and folded her cape back into a thin scarf.

"Don’t know and have to figure out."

"Thundering Blaaaaade!!!" the faint scream echoed up to where they were.

"Something might’ve gone wrong," Fumeko’s one foot was already encased in smoke-like shadow.

"Let’s find out, go," Jotou watched as Fumeko blinked downwards. The blonde then looked around—broken walkways and destroyed base of operations.

’I feel like we won, but just something small. Ugh, I hate that feeling.’ Jotou gazed past the broken device, into the cavern where the cult fled. She narrowed her eyes and then looked down, "How am I gonna get down..."