Intermission: The α Girl Learns of the Incongruities

Intermission:
The α Girl Learns of the Incongruities

 

THE PARTY, now down to just Cyrill, Jean, Maria, and Linus, continued their great journey. Cyrill was still in a dark mood and spoke little, which exacerbated the gloomy atmosphere hanging over the group.

Though something was different this time: Jean was in surprisingly high spirits.

“Don’t be so grouchy, guys! This is great marching weather!”

“What the hell’s got into Jean?”

“There’s nothing wrong with being motivated. We should hurry up too, Linus.”

Linus sighed. Maria was also in a surprisingly good mood and even more talkative than usual. He knew that he should be happy about this turn of events, but he found himself maintaining his distance and keeping a close eye on Jean and Maria.

It felt like a cold, icy hand had gripped his heart. Something was amiss. It didn’t feel like they’d overcome some sort of immense challenge, but rather, that the party was somehow heading in the wrong direction.

Suddenly Maria turned around and looked at Linus. She looked annoyed—a look quite uncommon for the usually reserved woman.

“Hey, didn’t I tell you to hurry up?”

“Uh, I… Yeah, sorry.”

She grabbed on to his arm, her warm chest pressing against his side, causing Linus’s mind to go blank. Linus was no stranger to interactions with the fairer sex, but things were somehow different with Maria.

“Why do you look so worried?” she asked.

“I dunno, you just seem to be in such high spirits. I was wondering if something changed.”

“No, nothing in particular. I just feel really energetic today.”

“Well, I guess that’s good then.”

She was definitely hiding something. She didn’t want to tell him, either because it wasn’t useful for him to know or because she didn’t trust him.

Or, just maybe, she didn’t want him wrapped up in whatever it was?

A few days prior, Maria’s smile would have been more than enough to wash away his concerns. All it did now was deepen his worry.

Maybe I really should just bring this journey to an end, he thought, even if I have to force her to stop. Then the two of us could live in peace, somewhere far, far away from it all. Maria would likely resist this with all her might. Linus just couldn’t bring himself to unquestioningly support everything that she so fervently believed.

Maria looked up at his serious expression, and her face clouded over. “Linus, why are…”

“Hm?”

“Never mind, it’s nothing. Let’s get going.” The concerned look on her face quickly faded, and she ­intertwined her fingers with Linus’s as they walked on side by side. Despite their closeness, Linus was all too aware of the impenetrable wall between them.

 

***

 

After pressing deeper into demon country, Tsyon showed up again to put an end to their progress. They’d fought him several times at this point, each time managing to push him back.

“You guys are downright chilly! I’ve got just the thing for ya… Flare Meteorite!!”

Tsyon summoned up a massive ball of fire. Wary of how deeply it would cut into his magic reserves, he didn’t use the Illegal Formula to make it any bigger or more powerful than usual this time. The party of heroes had been diminished to a point where he could afford to hold back.

Linus, the one member of the party whose combat skill remained unaffected, launched a volley of three arrows from just outside of Tsyon’s range. The arrows split off shortly ahead of their mark and flew in toward Tsyon from different directions.

“Looks like one of you is still red hot!! Still gonna have to up your game to scratch me, though!” Flames enveloped Tsyon’s body like a suit of armor, incinerating Linus’s arrows on contact.

Linus wasn’t ready to give up so easily. He drew his bowstring and let off another three arrows. CRACK! They flew through the air at immense speed, hinting that this was an entirely different type of attack from his previous attempt.

“Mighty impressive. But still not good enough!” Tsyon shot off a volley of flaming arrows of his own.

Jean took this as his opportunity to launch a spell. “Blue Flame!” The azure fire flickered through the air like a floating spirit as it closed in on Tsyon.

“Heh, you’re going to use fire affinity magic against me? Have you gone mad?”

It was a rather weak attack. So weak, in fact, that Tsyon didn’t see any reason to even address it. Instead, he focused his attention on Linus’s arrows.

Tsyon’s fire arrows collided with Linus’s barrage and exploded. A moment later, Linus’s shattered volley pushed through, wrapped in a protective barrier of wind.

“Huh, those were no normal arrows.”

“That there is Telemessenger! Even if you destroy the arrows themselves, they’ll still pursue you to the ends of the earth!”

Linus was more than a gifted archer—he could also draw on his wind affinity to imbue his arrows. Though he was weaker than most dedicated mages, it combined with his natural skill to make for a powerful attack.

Tsyon tried to shake the arrows trailing behind him, with little effect. Even if he could destroy them in a powerful blast, that would only increase the projectiles chasing after him.

Jean’s Blue Flame continued to slowly close in.

“Try this!” He stopped in midair, letting the attacks converge. “Blaaaaaze Fiiiiiiiiire!!”

Tsyon’s body was enveloped in a massive ball of fire that incinerated everything it touched. Linus’s arrows were reduced to ash in an instant, though Jean’s Blue Flame remained unaffected. The blue ball of fire wormed through the inferno, and the Demon Chief clicked his tongue in annoyance, reaching out to snuff out the attack.

Ordinary fire posed no threat to him. But this blue flame quickly wrapped itself around his arm and began to sap the heat from his body.

“Wait, this…this isn’t fire? I can’t move my arm! Is this ice? My Blaze Fire should have burnt that away!”

Jean smirked at the sight of the bewildered Tsyon.

“Oh, Blue Flame is definitely a fire attack…blended with an ice element. I imagine it must be hard for a simpleton like yourself to truly comprehend. Ha…gyahahahaha! Anyway, now that we’ve come this far, it’s time for my next attack. Medusa Wind!”

Jean put his hands together, though it didn’t look like anything actually happened.

A moment later, Tsyon felt a blast of wind against his face. He winced, brought his hand up to his cheek, and was surprised to feel stone. He tried to pluck it away, but it clung tight to his flesh.

“You… Did you turn my skin to stone?!”

The blast of wind clearly had something to do with this. Now rattled, Tsyon took off at high speed.

“You’re up, Linus.”

In the same instant the words left Jean’s mouth, an arrow made contact with Tsyon’s shoulder.

“Nngah! Damn you little buggers! Promethe…”

Tsyon was done holding back. He began to summon his most powerful attack, but Maria was quick to put a stop to that.

“Sacred Lance!”

A radiant lance shot toward Tsyon. In spite of his attempts to twist his body out of the way, the lance still found its mark and pierced his right arm.

“Graaaaugh!! Why you little…!!”

Alas, Maria wasn’t done quite yet.

“Spiral!”

The lance of light began to spin within the wound.

“What the hell? It’s…gaah! Spinning?! Ngyaaaauh!!”

The lance spun like a drill, boring deeper and deeper through flesh and muscle before piercing straight through the bone. Tsyon’s arm was reduced to little more than shredded pieces of meat.

“Haauh…nng…you…bastards…!!”

He wasn’t ready to call it quits. Under no circumstance could he let them get close to Sheitoom, but Jean and Maria both had their next spells ready to go, while Linus sighted down his bow at his target. Cyrill stood by with her sword slumped in her hand and a dejected look on her face. Even without her, though, they were still powerful enough to put his life at risk.

Tsyon imagined Sheitoom’s tear-streaked face. He had to stay alive. No matter what, he just couldn’t die yet.

“Dammit, I…!”

Overcome with grief, he picked up the remains of his severed arm and turned to flee.

“Element Burst!”

“Judgment Storm!”

Jean and Maria both unleashed their most powerful attacks at the escaping Demon Chief.

Element Burst was a special attack that combined all four affinities into a powerful beam which could destroy nearly anything it touched. The beam of white light could easily be mistaken for a light affinity attack, though this was just a side effect of the four affinities mixing together.

Judgment Storm was a massive blade of light meant to enact holy judgment upon its targets. The blade spun toward its opponent at high speed, incinerating anyone within its range of effect due to its powerful shock wave.

Tsyon dodged out of the way of the Judgment Storm, though not completely. It still caught part of his shoulder, but so little remained of his right arm that this wasn’t cause for concern. The Element Burst, however, caught his left arm. The powerful spell quickly overcame his own magic defense and began to spread throughout his body.

“Hnnngaaaaaaauuuugh!!”

After coursing through his body, the blast of light finally curved and shot up, sending him straight up into the sky, through the clouds and beyond. Though badly hurt, Tsyon somehow managed to make his escape.

 

***

 

Tsyon entered the castle and went immediately to his room, where he collapsed to the floor.

“I need to heal this up before Sheitoom sees me…hnng. Man, gaah…I can’t let her see me like this…”

The problem, though, was finding someone to help. He’d need to find his way out of the castle unseen and stealthily make his way to a suitable accomplice.

Tsyon heaved for breath as he grabbed ahold of the wall to pull himself back up to his feet. Just then…

“Oh, you’re back?” The one person he’d been hoping to avoid called outside his door.

“You can’t be serious…” Tsyon slumped back down to the floor.

For the briefest of moments, he clung to the hope that she’d leave if he just stayed quiet, but alas, that wasn’t to be. After all, he and Sheitoom often barged into each other’s rooms without bothering to ask permission.

“I know you’re in there, ya know. I could hear you! I’m comin’ in!”

Sheitoom’s voice took on a petulant tone—she clearly resented being ignored—as she pushed the door open, not bothering to wait for a response. She immediately let out a gasp as she laid eyes on Tsyon.

“What happened to you?! Did the heroes manage to injure you this badly?!”

“You could say that. I’m really not much to look at right now.”

“Wait, is this why you were quiet earlier?? You know, I already knew you weren’t much of a looker!”

“You wound me, Sheitoom.”

Sheitoom immediately went about healing his physical wounds, though it did little to help his injured pride. Even his arm, torn from his body moments ago, quickly regenerated to reassume its proper place. Sheitoom had a rare affinity that gave her domain over both light and dark magic. Tsyon liked to tease her about how unlike a Demon Lord it was for her to use curative spells.

“Thanks.”

The way he locked eyes with her brought a pink blush to Sheitoom’s cheeks. “Don’t keep secrets from me, okay? Just tell me when you need help.”

“Hey, I just wanna be cool, okay?”

“Grow up and get over yourself. You and your stupid popped collar.”

“No way. That’s—”

“Who you are, right. I know what you’re going to say, so don’t even bother. I just think you’d look cool without that stupid thing.”

Sheitoom’s annoyance was clear in her voice. In reality, she didn’t like the idea of other demons finding him attractive, but of course, she would never admit that out loud.

She stood up and plopped down on Tsyon’s bed. “Anyway, what happened back there? They really did a number on you.”

“I dunno. They just whipped out some spells I’d never seen before and completely overpowered me.” Tsyon got up off the floor and sat down next to her.

“They got more powerful, huh? And here I was, hoping we were about to be done with all this now that they’ve lost so many members.”

“You were definitely right about the humans coming to realize they’d been lied to, but the reduction in their numbers didn’t quite turn out as expected.” Tsyon ruffled Sheitoom’s hair, and she scooted closer.

Demons weren’t warlike by nature. Sheitoom took after her mother in that she believed in the inherent goodness of others and had led a relatively carefree life. She had already evacuated the demons directly in the path of the heroes up north to minimize casualties. Most of her subjects obeyed readily, though a few had defied her orders. She had originally appointed the Demon Chiefs and sent them out to harass the heroes to appease those people, but even that simple act weighed heavily on her.

“But how could they get so much more powerful with such little training?” said Tsyon.

“My only guess is that they have Origin’s power backing them up.”

“They were using rotation, connection, and even growth-based magic, so it would make sense. Hey, are you sure your seal is still holding firm?”

“The book outlining the sealing technique is in a place only the Demon Lord can access. Besides, Dhiza and I are the only ones with any knowledge of its contents. I’m confident there’s been no change in the seal.”

“Well, the humans back in the capital have been acting strangely for at least fifty years or so now.”

“Right, back during Mother’s time. I’ve heard we were on good terms until then.”

“I don’t imagine she could have screwed up that bad…so what happened?”

Ritus—the previous Demon Lord, and Sheitoom’s mother—fell ill and passed away shortly after the human-demon war thirty years prior. Compared to how long demons usually lived, her life was cut incredibly short. Sheitoom and Dhiza had cared for her right to the end. At her deathbed, Dhiza held her hand tightly as Ritus asked her faithful aide to keep watch over her daughter. With that, she fell into an endless slumber.

Shortly thereafter, the young Sheitoom took on the mantle of Demon Lord. With the support of Dhiza, Tsyon, and Neigass, she continued to watch over and maintain the seal. But despite their efforts, the humans had somehow managed to obtain the power of Origin. Neigass had embarked on a journey to try and uncover how, though she hadn’t turned up anything noteworthy.

“If things keep going this way, the heroes will make their way to the castle and break the seal.” said Sheitoom.

“I guess we have no choice left but to kill them.”

“But that’s almost certainly what Origin wants! If we kill the heroes, then we’re only going to anger the humans even more and further this feud!”

“Sorry, I got ahead of myself.”

“No, I’m sorry. I got a little too emotional there. Besides, you only wound up like this because I underestimated the humans.” Sheitoom leaned back against Tsyon. That one simple act only drove home what he already knew: he had to protect Sheitoom at all costs. “So, how can we stop them?”

“We have to stop the church and the kingdom,” Tsyon said. “They’re the ones supporting the heroes.”

“We’re far past the point where they might listen to us. Our letters go unanswered, as do our requests for a meeting. All of the nobles who were even remotely sympathetic to us have either fallen from grace or been arrested on trumped-up charges.”

“We can’t overthrow the church or the royal family all on our own. We’ll need human allies. But who?”

“Every human alive today has been raised believing that demons are terrible abominations.”

“Well, what about the people who left the hero party?”

“Gadhio, Eterna, and…Flum, was it?” Sheitoom never actually met them personally. She only heard of these people through Tsyon and Neigass’s stories. “It might be worth reaching out. Didn’t Neigass run into them a while back?”

“That’s right. She’s been away for quite a while.”

“I imagine her investigation isn’t going so well. Anyway, we can ask her when she comes back. It can’t hurt to try.”

“You’re right.”

With the pressing matter settled, a calm silence fell over the room. Sheitoom pressed her cheek against Tsyon’s newly healed shoulder. She felt a tinge of worry come over her as she caught a whiff of the freshly dried blood.

“Wh-why do people have to fight?” she murmured.

“They want to get their way, I guess.”

“They could still have what they want without fighting, though.”

Tsyon wrapped an arm around Sheitoom in a tight embrace. As she felt the warmth travel from his body into hers, she whispered to herself: “I wish this time could last forever.”

 

***

 

After their battle with Tsyon, the party continued on to their planned destination, using a teleportation stone so Cyrill could cast Return and take them back to the waypoint in the castle’s basement.

“Well, well,” said Jean, “I’d say that went swimmingly. What do you say to a celebratory pint, Linus?”

“Sorry, I’ve got plans.”

“How rude. I finally invite you out and this is how you respond? Whatever, I’m not going to let you spoil my wonderful mood!” Jean’s high-pitched cackle echoed off the walls as he made his exit.

Cyrill frowned slightly as she watched him leave. Something was clearly bothering her, though Maria didn’t seem to notice. She, too, was in a great mood.

“Hey, Maria…”

Maria walked out of the room before Linus could finish speaking. Fortunately, it didn’t look like she was ignoring him, exactly; she just was too caught up in the moment to hear him.

Linus’s face screwed up in concern. It was all he could do to just stand there.

“I wonder what happened to them.” Cyrill finally broke the silence, asking the question hanging heavily in the air.

“Beats me. They’ve been acting pretty strange for a while now.”

“Maybe it’s because I’m just no use anymore…”

“Don’t worry too much about that. It’ll come back to you with time. We need you on this journey, and we all know that.”

“I guess.”

Linus’s words had little obvious effect on Cyrill’s mood. She left the room without another word and made her way to one of the castle’s balconies for some fresh air.

There must have been something especially approachable about her, because ever since she became a hero, Cyrill often found herself swarmed whenever she was out. Every attempt to take a moment to herself was a battle to avoid being backed into a corner. Standing on the balcony, she looked down at the people milling about below. Up ahead, she could see the confectionery she and Flum had visited so many weeks ago.

Cyrill closed her eyes. The memories came flooding in as if they took place mere moments ago.

“Now this is city living! Sponge cakes with cream filling, more fruits than you can shake a stick at…this is great!”

“Mmm, everything’s delicious!”

“Tee hee. You should pace yourself, you know! You won’t even taste it going down.”

“No problem, I’ll just eat another one. What about you, Flum?”

“Hmm… Sure, I’ll have seconds, too!”

They’d licked their plates clean in a matter of seconds and then returned to the menu to order another round. After the waiter took their orders, Flum had turned back to look at Cyrill.

“I’m so glad we had a chance to meet, Cyrill.”

“Huh? What makes you say that all of a sudden?”

“You know, I’ve just felt so anxious ever since I learned I was chosen. You guys are all so amazing, and I’m, well, useless. If you weren’t here, I probably would’ve just run away a long time ago.”

“Oh, Flum…”

Flum had blushed slightly as she spoke. “I’m glad we met. I really, truly mean that.”

The truth, however, was exactly the opposite. Cyrill had felt like she might go mad from the mounting pressure and the anxiety it was causing her. If not for Flum, she might have had a complete breakdown. She should have just said so, at the time. She should have thanked Flum, but her throat seized up with emotion, and she couldn’t get any words out.

Cyrill cursed herself for her lack of skill at communicating.

Her trip down memory lane continued, the scene in her mind’s eye changing to another event that occurred shortly thereafter.

“It’s all your fault that someone got hurt. How do you plan to make up for it, huh?”

“I… I’m sorry…” Flum sat in the dirt, her knees held close to her chest. She looked absolutely miserable as Cyrill and Jean looked down at her.

“You have no idea just how useless you are, you little scum! You think saying you’re sorry will make it all better?!” Jean raged.

“Hnnph!”

Jean grabbed the collar of her shirt and yanked her up into the air. He only really yelled at her like this when no one was around.

Flum looked desperately to Cyrill, the only one left who could help her out of this situation. But Cyrill averted her gaze, pretending she hadn’t seen anything.

There were plenty of excuses she could offer for her behavior: the pressure of being a hero was just too great, she was tired of worrying about others all the time, Jean was too terrifying to stand up to… None of them were sufficient to explain why she would turn her back on Flum like that.

Flum couldn’t take the pressure and disappeared, never to be seen again. Now Cyrill was without her dearest companion, the person who brought her such happiness and supported her in her time of need.

Now she had no one.

She had dug her own grave.

“Oh, Cyrill.”

Cyrill heard a gentle voice call out from behind her. She turned around and caught sight of a familiar figure. “Maria?”

The look on her face was so warm and compassionate, like a buoy to a man lost at sea. Maria stepped closer and took Cyrill’s hand. She pressed a black crystal into her palm. “This is a core.”

“A core?” Looking closer, Cyrill felt almost as if she were being drawn in by the spiral moving inside it. A chill ran up her spine; she knew instantly that whatever this was, it wasn’t good.

“Jean and I both used these to power up,” Maria explained.

Cyrill had seen the effects of that power-up for herself earlier that day. If only I had some of that power. I might be able to help the party and get over this funk. But…

Could something like this really grant you such immense power with no repercussions?

“Don’t you want to be a useful member of the party?” Though there was no detectable change in Maria’s voice, the pressure behind her words was apparent. “Just give it a try. I’m sure you’ll be impressed with the results.”

“Is…is it really okay to use?”

“I’m using it, and besides, it was made by the church. You can trust it.”

She had no reason not to trust Maria.

Cyrill thanked Maria and slid the core into her bag. With that task done, Maria bid her farewell and made her way back into the castle.

***

 

As Maria walked through the castle halls, a blonde woman in a white lab coat approached her, causing Maria to stop. The woman readjusted her glasses on the bridge of her nose and smiled. “So, how did it go?”

“Ah, Echidna. Cyrill took it, just as I thought she would.”

“Glad to hear it. I’d hate for all the time we spent creating the core to go to waste.”

The voluptuous woman with the pouty face was Echidna Ipeila, a high-ranking researcher within the church. Only Mother rivaled her in influence.

“And how do you find the core? Any side effects?”

“None thus far. I’ve heard nothing but great things about the Chimera core, so I don’t anticipate any issues.”

Echidna laughed. “Good to hear. I have no intention of being outdone by the Children or Necromancy projects, after all. Still, I was a touch worried about what might happen to you. It’s pretty rare to use the cores on a living person.”

“I appreciate your concern, but I have places to be.”

“Ah, right, sorry. I guess we’ll talk again later, then.” She shot Maria a quick smile before heading off down the hallway, leaving Maria alone once again.

Maria closed her eyes and focused on the voices echoing in her head.

“Not bad.”

“Just a little bit more.”

“You don’t need it.”

“I’m worried.”

“Need to recover as soon as possible.”

Countless voices all spoke at once.

“I understand, Origin. My master.” Maria perked up.

“Combine.”

“Connect.”

“No, kill.”

“We must crush the will of the stars first.”

“What to do about the next possibility?”

“We must connect.”

“Kill, we must kill, kill, kiiill.”

The core only served to amplify these voices. They were usually all in alignment, but lately, they seemed to break apart and take on a life of their own.

It was all Flum’s fault.

“First and foremost, we need to get Cyrill to the castle.”

They could still pull the plan off once they achieved that. Maria needed to make that happen in order to make her dream of releasing the seal on Origin a reality.

“And then everything will die,” she muttered to herself as she turned to look out the window. “I hate them, I hate all of those demons. And that’s why I need to make sure they’re eradicated.”

She could only be her true self when no one was watching.

“Hate…hate them…”

A distracting thought began to break through the noise. A smile, an image of a man.

She shook her head to clear her mind.

I need to forget about him.

She had no time for such distractions.

I can’t leave any room for hope.

Trust would only lead to betrayal.

“Humans are awful. All life is awful. That’s why it must be destroyed.”

She bit her thumb until she tasted the metallic tang of blood.

Her heart was consumed by hate. This had become her whole reason for being; even her life in the church was built around fulfilling this goal. There was no one she would not betray, no compromise she would not make, no course of action whatsoever she would not take.

There was no room for uncertainty.

There was nothing—or at least she told herself as much—to tie her down to this world.