Guilty x Creatures Ch. 68

Hoisting herself up with her tail, Mica hung in midair and zipped back and forth as she viciously cut down any tendrils that Tessa missed.

Mesmerized by the sight of battle taking place around her, Fiona was brought back to reality by Anton's prodding and quickly recommenced to repeating after him.

With their two guardians now protecting the window, Anton and Fiona were able to continue to build up the spell without pause, and as they did the very air around them became charged with the energy from the forming spell.

Though he had no time to explain this, the language that Anton was speaking was actually divine in its nature, as it was the original language spoken by the Gods before their exodus.

Rarely spoken in the modern age due to being nearly all but forgotten, words in this tongue still held power over the world itself and were used to operate intricate spells. Or at least they could be by those that knew how to use them correctly and who were either ancient enough to remember them out right, or lucky enough to be learned in them.

Far from fluent in this language and in no way an expert on its mechanics, Anton still knew enough to be cautious with any words said in this tongue as they were known to sometimes have unexpected effects on both the peoples, and the very environment that they were spoken in and around.

Had things not been as dire as they were right now, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths as to use this language at all. But as it sat, he didn't feel that he had much in the way of choice. The nightmare had to be stopped, and chancing failure with weaker spells just wasn't worth the risk.

Concentrating as he was on what they were doing, Anton did his best to ignore the knot of worry that was steadily growing in his stomach. He knew he needed a plan in case this one didn't work, but there was no time to think about that now, he had to remain focused on the spell he was working to build lest it fall apart around them.

As they finally reached the point in which they would lock the spell to the nightmare, Anton gave Fiona's shoulder an urgent squeeze as the signal and she stiffened in acknowledgment.

Raising her voice so it could be heard above the din of the battle, the dark elf sang out clearly.

" Harozza'mukulamei!" croaked Fiona as for a moment she met eyes with the monster below her.

In the next instant a second, larger circle that was identical in design to the one floating around Anton and Fiona's wrists, winked into existence right beneath the nightmare's feet.

Her eyes dropping to the ground beneath her, the nightmare let loose another ear shattering scream as the circle surrounding her became aglow with the neon green light of Fiona's aura.

Elated by this, Anton set in to the second half of the spell and Fiona quickly followed along with him.

As they chanted away now as loudly as they could, lost in the throes of the magic they were creating, Kianna couldn't help but to take a step back and away from them.

These words, the words that her master spoke, they sounded so very alien to her, and yet, at the same time, they were so strangely familiar.

Barely even breathing now, the dark elf became transfixed as for her it began to feel as though the words, and the magic they carried, were passing not only through the air around her, but right through her being itself.

It was as though the deepest core of herself had begun to vibrate in time with the words as they were spoken, as though her very being had suddenly become attuned to them.

Though still unfamiliar in their spoken form, Kianna was beginning to recognize the deeper meanings behind these divine words.

They were power...

Domination, fear, justice, surrender, strength, trust, subjugation, power...

Power...

Power...

These words... Not only had Kianna begun to recognize them, she now knew they were in truth, a part of her...

These words had all been spoken, and their power fully invoked, by the Gods during the initial creation of her race, so very, very long ago...

She knew now that her very essence had been born from these words, and she still carried their power within her.

She was the literal living embodiment of this power, she and every other dark elf that had ever existed...

Including Fiona.

Gazing at her sister, Kianna's eyes widened in unease as she watched a twisted smile begin to form across Fiona's face.

"...Back....They need to get back." breathed Kianna as Fiona's features began to darken and go black "Back! Everyone get back!"

Pausing in surprise at her outburst, Anton turned to Kianna just as she began to race to the broken window.

"Everybody back!" cried Kianna as she held onto the side of the window frame and leaned outwards "Tessa! Earlivi! Get back! Get away from the nightmare!"

Looking up at her, Earlivi's orb-like eyes narrowed in suspicion before with a start and a grunt he dropped his gaze to the ground beneath him.

The glow from the circle surrounding him and the nightmare had begun to intensify tenfold, and it now felt as though they were being pulled down towards it by a heavy, relentless weight.

It was at this moment that Anton blinked and suddenly became aware that while he had paused in their chanting, Fiona had not.

The power he had been slowly running through the dark elf was now being siphoned out in earnest by her as with a mere thought, she had seized control of the spell away from him and barreled forward with what they had begun.

The dark elf's voice rang out true and strong as she boldly continued to form the spell, a spell they had once been building together, but one that now belonged to her alone.

Taken aback, Anton stared transfixed as Fiona, seemingly through some kind of instinct, began to reshape the spell by adding new words said amid a darker tone.

As the spell she was now forming on her own grew to a crescendo, the power flowing into it began to manifest as green static electricity-like sparks which began to appear out from the darkening dark elf's body and jump all around the room.

Outside, the pull from the circle of power had grown so intense that with a struggle, Earlivi had just been able to wrestle his limbs away from the clawing nightmare before turning and trying to stomp his way out of the circle and escape. Reaching the edge of the circle, his fatigue suddenly set in and he fell to one knee. Bracing himself with his tendrils, he fought against the weight that held him in place and was just barely able to raise his damaged body back up to his feet. Teetering now but desperate to keep going, he stopped short as Mica suddenly appeared in front of him.

Without a word the kiochi whipped her tail forward into the circle and wrapped its length around Earlivi's arm before looking up and nodding at an unseen someone behind him. In the next instant, Earlivi was struck from behind and shoved forward. Pulling with all her might, Mica heaved the large homunculi's now sailing body through the air and out of the circle.

Landing in a heap with Tessa planted on his back, strength immediately returned to Earlivi as the weight he had bore a mere second ago was instantly relieved.

Still unsure of their supposed ally, both Tessa and Mica each put a sizable distance between themselves and the hulking being who was now quickly getting back to his feet.

Seeing her adversary escape, the nightmare screamed in rage before toppling over onto her side and dissolving herself back into a formless mass.

All eyes fell onto the withering being as her bloodcurdling screams reached a new gut wrenching intensity.

Behind the screams Fiona's confident chant could still be heard rising into the night air. With a flurry of the green sparks erupting out of the darkness that was her being now, the dark elf paused for dramatic effect before finally finishing her spell.

" Harozza'mukulamei!" she cried around a smug smile "Your bitch ass is now mine!"

With that declaration made the circle beneath the nightmare broke away from the ground and, lifting the nightmare up with it, began to rise into the air before sailing straight towards its twin floating around Fiona's wrist.

Trapped in between the two enclosing and shrinking circles, the nightmare raged in a futile fury as her formless mass was crushed down into a smaller and smaller shape by the spell that now entrapped her.

Forced to consolidate down into almost nothing by the shrunken circles, the tiny ball of blackness that had was what had become of the nightmare was violently sucked into the jar, an act which cut off its one last final scream.

Their target now trapped, the two glowing circles combined into one and wrapped themselves around the glass enclosure before taking on a physical form and fusing themselves over the mouth of the jar, sealing it shut in the process.

A silent stillness filled the night as everyone stared intently at the jar.

For a moment, the glow of the circles pulsed in what looked like the rhythm of a struggle before finally slowing in pace and going dark.

The stillness that followed was broken when Kianna jumped in surprise as Mica teleported into the room and appeared right next to her.

"...Did we win?" questioned the shinoccubus as she looked from one face to another.

"Damn right we did!" cheered Fiona as she raised the jar up high in triumph and turned to Anton "We totally wrecked that bitch!...Right!?"

Signing in relief, Anton's shoulders collapsed and hung limp as he stepped backwards until he could fall to sit on Fiona's bed.

"Well that was an ordeal..." he muttered before smiling up at Fiona "To answer your question though... Yes, we won..."

"Yes!" shouted Fiona "Victory is ours!"

"Sweet!" smiled Mica as her tail waved back and forth excitedly.

"Oh, thank the Gods..." breathed Kianna.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" cried Fiona as she rigorously shook her fist, and the jar it held, up and down "We won, we won, we won!"

"Will you please not shake that jar like that, Fiona!" exclaimed Anton "Do you really want to find out what would happen if you break it?"

"I already know! The jar is a housing for the curse! And is just like our collars!" smiled Fiona "Even if it breaks, it'll just fix itself! And the stupid bitch will just end up back in her circle until it reforms!"

"...Hm. So you do actually understand that spell then?" questioned Anton as he arced an eyebrow "That's interesting..."

Fiona went to speak but stopped short as her expression shifted from excitement to confusion.

"...Did you know that would happen?" she asked as she looked Anton in the eye "That the spell would, speak, to me like that?"

"...Is that what happened?" questioned Anton "Because I assumed the spell itself might have taken over there at the end?"

"No. It helped. But I was in control." said Fiona as she shook her head "It didn't take over. It didn't need to. It knew that I would take over, and it just let that happen... Honestly, I think it was actually kinda, happy? Whenever that happened..."

"...I see." nodded Anton as he gazed at the jar in Fiona's hand "Well luckily that worked out, and the spell was friendly to you. That's not always the case when a spell takes on a mind of its own like that..."

"Yeah, super lucky that spell wanted to trap this bitch just as much as I did!" laughed Fiona as she brought the jar up to eye level and smiled tauntingly at the faint mass of blackness inside it "Look at this tiny dumbass! Trapped under glass! Just like a goldfish in a bowl! Ha! Hope you're cozy in your new little home, Rozzie! Cause you're gonna be in there for awhile! Better get comfortable, bitch!"

"...Wait, can she actually hear us out here?" asked Kianna as she watched her sister tap on the glass with her fingertip.

"She can hear me, and if I let her she could hear the rest of you too." said Fiona as she rolled the jar back and forth while watching its contents shift around "Probably gonna keep her in the dark for a little while though. At least until she calms down."

"...Hold on. You can actually hear her!?" asked Anton "Even right now!?"

"...Yeah?" said Fiona as she pointed her ears straight upwards "Why? Am I not supposed to?"

"...Uh, I?...I'm not sure?" said Anton "I don't think I would be able to hear her with that specific spell?...But maybe the spell works differently for dark elves?"

"Probably. Could also be you weren't doing it right." said Fiona in a dismissive manner "The spell did seem like it thought you were doing things a little wonky there. That was one of the reasons it was happy when I took over."

"...Oh?...Okay?" said Anton "I didn't know I wasn't doing it right?"

"No biggie." said Fiona with a shrug "It still worked out just fine."

"So, what the Hell just happened?" asked Mica as she turned to the window just as Tessa's hovering form appeared "Where did that nightmare even come from?"

"Fiona's dream." said Anton as he watched Tessa zip into the room and lightly land on her feet as her wings folded themselves away "That's actually where this battle started. That nightmare tricked Fiona into following her fully into the Void, where she then tried to absorb her mind, which would have killed her. Luckily, the slavery bond between us allowed Fiona to call out to me, and I was able to help her fight the nightmare off."

"Oh, so that's why you woke up all panicked." said Kianna with a nod "Fiona was stupid again, and almost got herself killed."

"Hey, it's not funny." mumbled Fiona "This bitch was really trying to eat my mind! She was seriously going to kill me..."

"Okay, so, if this was going on in your dream, then how did that thing get out here?" asked Mica "Nightmares don't just jump out of dreams like that... Do they?"

"No, a nightmare couldn't, and wouldn't, normally just come to Reality on its own like that." sighed Anton "When Fiona's mind slipped out of her dreamscape, she inadvertently pulled the nightmare out with her by mistake. And if she hadn't done that then this wouldn't have happened."

"Ah, so this was all your fault then." said Mica smugly "Figures, dumb bitch just being dumb again."

"...Why you! Come here you little shit!" said Fiona as she reached out with her free hand and made to move towards Mica.

Grinning, the kiochi teleported behind Kianna and pressed up against her in an effort to use the other dark elf as cover.

"Circumstances aside, this whole thing wasn't really Fiona's fault." said Anton as he watched the incensed dark elf glare at the partially hidden kiochi "Fiona can't really be blamed for a random nightmare showing up out of the blue like that..."

"Oh, no! That's the thing!" said Fiona as she turned to him "This wasn't random. Rozzie was actually sent here."

"...What?...Are you serious!?" questioned Anton.

"Yeah, she told me she was here looking for somebody and that I wasn't her target. But that I would still do." explained Fiona "And then when I was sucking up her thoughts, I actually saw who she was supposed to be looking for, and it was you."

"...Me? She came here to kill me?" stated Anton "Are you sure about this?"

"Yep. She wasn't excited about it though. I guess when she got here she didn't really like the look of you, so she decided to go after me instead." continued Fiona with a shrug "I don't think the people who sent her here actually have any control over her. Like, they didn't order her to come here, it was more like they kinda convinced her to come here."

"...Hm....Honestly, I'm shocked that anyone could even manage to persuade her to do anything at all." mused Anton "She's a nightmare after all. How does one even bargain with a nightmare to begin with?"

"I don't know, they offered her something though. And she won't say what it is." said Fiona as she held the jar back up to her eye "Might need to torture it out of her... At least we know why she was here though. She's just another assassin after you."

Anton stared at the jar for a moment before his face hardened.

"...Do you know who it was that sent this nightmare?" he asked as he shifted his eyes to Fiona's.

"No, sorry." said Fiona as she shook her head "I don't think Rozzie does either. They were someone who just showed up in the Void and spoke to her. Or at least that's about as much as I can tell from what I've seen. They might actually have been another Voidling, because from what I can tell, it didn't seem like Rozzie wanted to hurt them, and she wants to hurt everybody!"

"...Another Voidling....That makes a little more sense....Still though." mumbled Anton as he turned to Kianna "Do you have your phone on you?"

"...Uh, no? It's still on the nightstand." said Kianna as she pointed her ears straight upwards "Did you want me to go get it?"

"Please, if you would." nodded Anton as he rose to his feet and made his way towards the broken window.

"What do you need her phone for?" asked Fiona as she watched her sister quickly leave the room.

"Because I need her to make a call for me..." mumbled Anton as he leaned out the hole in the wall "Earlivi! Are you alright?"

"Yes... My master..." answered the homunculus from where he was kneeling in the grass "I am merely taking a moment to recover, and assess the damages I took during the battle..."

"Damages... Give me a second, and I'll be right there." said Anton before stepping out through the broken window.

Forming a pillar with his aura, Anton lowered himself down to the ground and quickly made his way over to Earlivi.

"Back!" cried Kianna as she jogged back into the room "...Master? Where did he go?"

"He's checking on Earlivi." said Fiona as she pointed out the window "Looks like the big guy got hurt pretty bad during the fight."

"He did? Oh no! That's awful!" exclaimed Kianna "Is he gonna be okay!?"

"I guess? I mean, he looks okay to me?" said Fiona with a shrug.

The trio all watched as Anton had Earlivi lift his arm and flex his hand into a fist.

"Who is that guy?" asked Mica "He's creepy as Hell..."

"That's Earlivi. He's the boss's homunculus." answered Fiona "And yeah, he's super creepy, and he's also not very friendly. So try not to stand too close to him, or get on his bad side."

"...A homunculus....Damn, he's pretty big for a homunculus." mused Mica.

"Oh, this is nothing. You should see him in his giant form." said Kianna "He's actually even bigger than the house when he transforms."

"Giant form? Wait, he can transform? What the Hell kind of homunculus is he?" questioned Mica.

"An evil, experimental one that was created in a lab by what I suspect is probably an actual mad scientist." said Fiona "A mad scientist who is of course, friends with our boss..."

"...Wait, what? Seriously?" said Mica.

"Yeah, it's probably best if you just don't ask too many questions about him..." mumbled Kianna "Just be thankful that he's on our side, okay."

"Kinda on our side..." muttered Fiona "For the moment..."

After having finished with his assessment of the homunculi's condition, Anton made his way back to the house and rose back up to the hole in the wall via another aura pillar.

"Is Mr. Earlivi alright?" asked Kianna as Anton stepped back into the room.

"He's a little banged up, but nothing too bad." said Anton with reassuring grin "A bit of mana, and a day or two of rest and he should be good as new."

"Who's mana?" muttered Fiona.

"Isn't he going to come back inside?" asked Kianna as she gazed at the still kneeling homunculus.

"I'm sure he will in a bit. He's just taking a minute to recuperate." said Anton "Anyways, were you able to find your phone?"

"Oh, yeah. It's right here." said Kianna "Did you need to call someone?"

"Yes, I'd like to give your Mother a call." said Anton as he held his hand out for the phone "So I can give her a piece of my mind..."