Guilty x Creatures Ch. 68

Chapter 4 : After Midnight

Fiona gasped audibly as her eyes shot open wide. Staring up at the ceiling above her bed, she breathed out a sigh of relief at finding herself back in the familiar space of her room. Relaxing enough to let her head sink further into her pillow, she began to mentally go over everything that had just happened to her.

She was still in the process of trying to decide if anything that she was remembering actually happened to her, or was all just a dream, when suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a distinct shuffling sound coming from the floor at the foot of her bed.

Ears now poised and alert, Fiona slowly lifted her head and gazed into the darkness. For a moment everything was quiet and still, but as the dark elf watched, a blackness deeper than the darkness around it began to slowly rise up from the floor.

At first glance this blackness seemed to be a formless mass, but as it continued to rise it began to consolidate into a more solid form which began to take on a familiar shape.

"...Oh shit." breathed Fiona as the black mass seemed to turn towards her "She followed me..."

Fiona's breath got caught in her throat as a pair of eerily glowing, yellow circles suddenly winked into existence and pointed themselves right at her.

"...Uh, hey there." whispered the dark elf as the pupil-less orbs silently stared at her "...Is that really you?...Rozzie?"

The moment Fiona said the name, the orbs both shifted to an angry looking red light and the black mass reared up high into the air.

"Shit!" exclaimed Fiona as she instinctively formed an aura field around herself.

Just as soon as the bubble took shape it was immediately slammed into by a force that rocked the dark elf within its protective barrier.

Looking upwards at her attacker, Fiona's ears pointed themselves straight upwards as she watched a pair of cloven hoofed feet rear again and then slam themselves back into her bubble.

The hoofs on these feet were so sharp they were almost claw-like and they made an angry scratching noise as they were raked across the side of the bubble.

Gazing past them, Fiona froze in wide eyed panic as she watched her attackers head begin to form out of the blackness of its mass.

Far and away this head was the same size and shape as that of a large black horse, though this was easily the most horrifying looking horse that Fiona had ever seen. Its wide nostrils blew out a plum of smoke-like blackness as the two perfect glowing circles that were its eyes bore into her own.

A shimmering flame soon erupted out of the back of the head and ran down its long neck before billowing out into a blazing, silver colored mane that appeared to be made out of white fire.

Easing its head in between the legs it had pressed against the bubble, the horse's eyes seemed to boil with rage as it stared down at Fiona. Without warning it opened its massive maw unnaturally wide and let loose a bone shattering scream.

Fiona barely even registered the monster's scream as her attention was instantly locked to the creature's mouth itself. Though horse-like in appearance on the outside, the monster's mouth was filled with several rows of long, sharp, knife-like fangs that seemed to be made out of a black, shiny metal. And behind these fangs, far down within the bellowing mass, came radiating forth the fiery light from what could only be described as a living cauldron or furnace which somehow contained a literal, swirling white colored inferno deep within the monster's body.

Staring down the creature's throat and into this fiery pit, Fiona's transfixed mind was brought back to the here and now by a thin, splintering crack, which suddenly spread itself across the expanse of her bubble.

Emboldened by this achievement, the monster screamed again before rearing back up high into the air.

Raising her hands on impulse, Fiona cried out as the monster readied itself to bring its hooves crashing back down upon her.

Before it could accomplish this however, it suddenly stopped mid motion and paused as if it had sensed something was wrong. The stillness that followed was broken as Fiona let out a relived breath. She too had sensed the ominous presence filling the air around them, but for her this feeling of dread was all too familiar and at this point, far from unwelcomed.

In the next instant the bedroom door swung opened with a crash and revealed a large dark, looming figure standing silhouetted against the lights from the hall.

The monster immediately turned to the intruder and screamed again before it was cut short as it was suddenly tackled around its middle by the charging figure.

Wrapping his arms and tendrils as tightly around the monster as he could, Earlivi swept the creature up into his charge and sent them both crashing through the window. Using their combined bulk against the nightmare, he shifted the creature's mass forward to break his fall as he slammed them both onto the ground below.

"Fiona!" cried Kianna as she and Anton both bolted into the room "Are you okay!?"

"I! He!...They went that way!" stammered Fiona as she pointed at the shattered window.

Racing forward, Anton continued on to the window as Kianna went to her sister at the bed.

"Are you hurt!?" whimpered Kianna as Fiona dropped her aura field "Did she get you!?"

"No. She couldn't reach me..." said Fiona as she shakily got to her feet and made her way to the window.

Coming up next to Anton, the sounds of a fierce battle could be heard raging below them and as Fiona looked down, her breath got caught in her throat.

The two monstrous entities were indeed engaged in a viscous clash. Their large forms moving about amid a whirling maelstrom of fists, hooves and ripping tendrils. For the moment, Earlivi appeared to have the upper hand as he seemed to be having a far easier time maneuvering about. Planting his feet out wide, he continuously rolled his head back and forth to dodge his adversaries tendril attacks while constantly taking every opportunely he was given to trip the unsteady monster's legs out from under her and slam her into the ground over and over. Despite his better tactics, the homunculus was not without damage though, as the monster's fanged mouth and six hoofed legs still tore into him whenever he furiously attempted to maintain a grappled hold around the creature's middle.

"It's hurting him!" cried Kianna "Master we have to kill it before it kills Earlivi!"

"We can't, we can't kill her..." mumbled Fiona "All that's gonna do is send her back to the Void. Killing her won't work!"

"What!?" exclaimed Kianna as she turned to her sister "You don't know that!"

"No, she's right." said Anton as he shook his head "That thing is a nightmare, Kianna. A Voidling, and one of the worst. You can't just kill them. Even if you do manage to destroy their bodies, they'll just reform back in the Void."

"Well... Who cares if its back in the Void!? That's where it belongs anyway!" exclaimed Kianna as she looked from Anton to Fiona and back "Right!?"

"She won't stay there now. She'll reform, and when she does, she'll just come right back." said Fiona as her eyes went distant "She knows my name now, and she knows I know her name..."

"...Okay? And? I don't know why that matters but whatever!" said Kianna "If she's a nightmare then we can still send her back to the Void and just put up charms or dreamcatchers in the house to keep her away! Right!?"

"There's already charms and dreamcatchers set up in the house, Kianna. They don't work on her though, because she's been to Reality before. She's got a physical body and she knows how to slip past a charm..." explained Fiona "That's how she was able to get to me. She tricked me into following her deeper into the Void. She's knows I know what she did. She knows I know her secrets... She's not gonna stop until she kills me!"

"I told you not to hold on to her, Fiona." growled Anton "You should have just let her go when I told you to! But oh no, you just had to teach her a lesson, didn't you!? Once again you take things too far..."

"I'm sorry! I didn't know she could follow me like this!" exclaimed Fiona.

"She didn't just follow you. She wouldn't do that. You pulled her through. You brought her here." said Anton "And now she's gonna kill you to make sure you can't ever do that again."

"We have to stop her!" cried Kianna as Fiona groaned miserably "And if we can't kill her then how do we stop her!?"

"We trap her." said Anton as he turned away from the window and faced Fiona "You said you knew her name now, right?"

"I!...Yes." nodded Fiona.

"Are you sure you know the whole thing?" asked Anton as he gave her a pointed look "Their names can be very long. And this will only work if you know the whole thing."

"I know it. And I know I know it because she got pissed when I said it." said Fiona "It's-!"

"Stop! Don't tell us, we don't need to know it too. Not yet." said Anton as he held up his hand to stop her "Don't say it again until after she's been contained."

"You can contain her!?" asked Kianna.

"I can. A nightmare is powerful, but it's still a Voidling, so it can be bound. And they should in theory be no harder to keep bound than something like a jinn, or a huli jing." said Anton as he narrowed his eyes at Fiona "Though I'm not going to be the one to bind this monster... Fiona is."

"Me!? Why me!?" cried Fiona "Why can't you just do it!?"

"Because I'm not the one she's after. So even if I did bind her, there's no guarantee that you won't still be her target. No. You have to be the one to put her in her place now... And more importantly than that, I'm not going to do it because she's not my monster, Fiona. I didn't bring her here. I didn't take things too far again... You did." said Anton as he loomed over the dark elf "You made this mess. And now you're going to be the one to clean it up."

Fiona went still for a moment as she stared back at him.

"...I, I!...Okay, fine!...You're right! I did this. I brought the bitch here." she said softly as she turned to the window and took a labored breath "But I don't know how to fix this!?"

"I can show you. I can even work the spell through you." said Anton as he followed her gaze "But you're going to have to be the one to actually do it. I'm not kidding when I say she's after you, so you have to be the one to contain her. It's the only way to get her to stop targeting you."

"...Okay. Sounds good." nodded Fiona "So, what do I contain her in?"

"This." said Anton as he held up a small, round pot-like green colored jar with a series of binding seals etched across its base.

"...This?...Are you serious!? We're really going to try to put that freak in this tiny little thing!?" questioned Fiona as Anton handed her the jar that was just barely big enough to fill her open palm.

"Yes, we are... Hopefully." mumbled Anton "Unfortunately, this one wasn't designed for a nightmare specifically. But there's no time to make a new one. So we all better hope this one will work."

"...Is she even gonna fit in here!?" asked Fiona as she eyed the small jar.

"She should....Hopefully. There's only one way to find out for sure though." said Anton as an angry, ear splitting scream came from outside the window "And I suggest we don't wait any longer to try it."

The scream outside was abruptly cut short as Earlivi slammed the nightmares head against the ground. The homunculus tossed his own head back and out of the way as a plume of smoke filled fire suddenly erupted out of the nightmares mouth and mane.

"Oh great. It looks like that monster has started to figured out how to use her physical body's abilities." mumbled Anton "We need to do this now before she realizes she can disintegrate things."

"...S-s-she can what!?" stammered Kianna.

"Right, so!" started Fiona as she looked from the jar to the window and back "What do I do first!?"

"Come here, and stand in front of me." said Anton as he kept his eyes on what was happening outside.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Anton guided Fiona forwards and positioned her between himself and the window.

The dark elf gulped audibly as she found herself standing just above and looking down upon the battle taking place right below her.

"Now listen carefully." said Anton as he gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze "This will be just like what we did in your dreamscape. The only difference is this time it's all going to happen in reality."

"You're going to go into my mind?" questioned Fiona as she pointed her ears straight upwards.

"Not my full consciousness, no. But as I cast the spell through you, it will travel out from my mind and through yours. Let this happen. Don't try to resist it, or fight it or even try to understand it. Just let it flow on its own. You won't know what its doing as it does it. But don't be afraid of that, just let it finish." explained Anton "The words I say will be in an ancient language, so they'll sound strange and alien to you. But don't worry about that right now either, just repeat them as I say them. Once we begin, don't say anything else that isn't part of the spell, or we'll have to start all over. Understand so far?"

"Yeah, I'm following you." nodded Fiona "Let magic flow through me, say the funny words and nothing else. Simple."

"Essentially, yes. That's the basic premise at least." said Anton as he tightened his hold on her shoulders "When I give you a squeeze like this, it'll be the signal that it's time to say the nightmare's name. You'll need to do this twice, once when we lock the spell onto her, and again when the spell is complete. You'll need to say the nightmare's full name both times. If everything is done right, she should become bound to the jar."

"Okay." nodded Fiona "How do I know if it doesn't work?"

"If it works, she'll be sealed inside the jar." explained Anton "And if it doesn't work, she'll break the jar..."

Fiona gulped audibly as she gripped what she felt like was far too small of a jar.

"Hold the jar out in front of you like this, and face its opening at the nightmare." said Anton as he lifted Fiona's arm and held her by the wrist "I'm going to create a binding circle in the air around our wrists with my aura. And I want you to overlay your own aura around mine. Follow the pattern I make, and once it's finished, you need to keep it in place for the entirety of the spell."

"Uh, okay?" said Fiona.

"...Just relax." said Anton as his aura began to manifest around him "...Just follow the pattern."

As the two dark elves watched, Anton's glowing orange aura started flowing down his arm before concentrating at his wrist and swirling outwards into a wide, disc shape that was covered in seals and markings.

Taking a deep breath, Fiona let her own aura flow out to follow the path set by Anton's. At first her aura remained invisible, but as she felt it melt around the shape that Anton had created, she ignited it with her mana and with a flash of light, the bright green glow of her presence winked into existence.

"Perfect." whispered Anton "Alright. We're about to begin, and when we do, do not move from this spot, stop with the incantation or let your circle falter, no matter what happens. And I'm serious about this. Once we begin, we can not stop, for any reason. Alright?"

"Alright... I get it..." breathed Fiona as she let him level their circle wielding arms at the nightmare "...I'm ready! Let's do this!"

Behind her, Fiona felt faint rumblings begin to emanate out of Anton's chest as he began a whispering chant. Though he hadn't explained this, the dark elf instinctively knew that this wasn't part of the spell, but was merely an exercise that would help him in quickly gathering power from his mana pool.

She stiffened as this rising power began to overflow into her being from where he was still holding her arm and shoulder. As this power grew in intensity, Anton's whispering chant died down to nothing. And after a moment of heavy silence, he began to speak aloud.

The words that Anton began to say were melodic yet concise in their structure and while completely unfamiliar with their meanings, Fiona was still able to recognize when one word ended and another began well enough that she could repeat them clearly and easily.

Focused on her fight with the meddling abomination, the nightmare had no idea that anything was happening above her. It wasn't until a wave of tiny pinprick like sensations, caused by the forming spell, washed across her being that she noticed the chanting echo coming from the shattered window she had just been thrown out of.

Looking up at the gaping hole, she spied the dark elf standing behind a glowing circle with a strange man. Realizing at once what they were trying to do, the nightmare's eyes began to boil with a new rage.

Fiona couldn't help but to pause her breath as the nightmare unleashed the loudest scream she made so far. Prodded on by Anton, she quickly caught up with him as they continued the spell.

A new target in her minds eye now, the nightmare quickly twisted her entire body into a desperate death roll and wretched herself free of her enemy's grapple before immediately leaping into the air.

Held in place by Anton's hold on her, Fiona could do nothing but raise her free hand over her face and cry out the next word as the nightmare's hideous form began to sail straight towards them.

Roaring in rage, the nightmare landed hard against the broken window frame and drove her long neck back into the building as she went to sink her teeth into Fiona's head.

The dark elf's eyes went wide as the nightmare's jaws suddenly snapped shut mere inches away from her face. A strained, angry sound came from the nightmare as she snapped her jaws again before easing back and away from Fiona. A elated breath came from the dark elf as she realized that a thick, black tentacle was wrapped tightly around the nightmare's head.

"...You!" grunted Earlivi from where he had planted himself on the ground "...Will remain, in place!"

With his tendrils stretched out before him and wrapped all around his foe, the homunculus gave one mighty heave and pulled the nightmare back to himself.

Ripped away from the window, the nightmare took a section of its frame with her as she was violently pulled back into Earlivi's waiting arms.

Withering in rage at being recaptured, the monster created her own metallic tendrils out of her body and sent them speeding straight back up at Fiona.

Seeing the sharpened points gleaming in the moonlight as they sped towards her, Fiona cried out again as she shut her eyes in panic. Just before the tendrils met their mark however, the ringing clangs of metal clashing with metal filled the air.

Her breath frozen in her chest, Fiona blinked open her eyes as the buzzing sounds of insectoid wings suddenly filled her ears.

"Mica! Tessa!" cried Kianna in excitement.

"What the Hell are those things!?" demanded Mica as she brandished her daggers at Earlivi and the nightmare.

Having buried her spade into the damaged wall, the sleepwear clad kiochi gripped at what was left of the window frame with her barbs as she used her tail to keep herself standing up in the air with her feet pressed against the siding of the outside wall. Hovering in the open space on the other side of the window from her, Tessa kept her eyes on the battle below as she held her spell enhanced scythes at the ready.

"The armored one is our side! Don't hurt him!" exclaimed Kianna "The other one is a nightmare trying to kill Fiona! And we're trying to stop her!"

"...Right. Okay." said Mica as she looked from the two monsters to Fiona and Anton and back "Tessa! Don't let the ugly bitch touch the stupid bitch!"

Buzzing in acknowledgment, Tessa tucked her limbs in and twisted herself into a barrel roll before diving down at the nightmare and slashing apart a new wave of tendrils with her scythes.