Dark.
Damp.
Freezing.
The cave felt suffocatingly isolating, more than anything Lily had experienced up until this point.
The sudden drop in temperature setting off all kinds of alarms in her mind as she walked deeper and deeper into the dark.
Every inch of her was screaming to turn around, but she couldn’t, the trail in front of her kept leading deeper down, and so she had to follow… she had to know if they were truly waiting at the end of this path.
Yet she could not put herself at ease, for each step she took she felt further separated from the new world, from the old, from everything.
This felt like something beyond comprehension.
Neither reality nor the space between worlds.
A fading space that should not exist, something both real and not.
All that kept Lily moving was the red and blue lights before her, their music box tune keeping her focused and moving through the dark.
Each step taken seemed to only take her further and further from everything.
Her mind raced with questions, how did this happen?
Why did it happen?
What was this place?
Why did it even exist?
“Just relax and keep moving.” Six’s calming voice spoke into her right ear in an almost hushed whisper. “You’re not alone now, remember that and just keep walking, I’ll explain everything later.”
Slowly Lily nodded, trying to stay focused on walking forward.
Whatever this place was it seemed to not have any sense of time at all, she didn’t feel fatigued or tired despite walking for what felt like hours.
It just felt like nothing, similar yet different to that void where she met Six.
As she keeps walking the sound of the music box begins to grow louder and louder as she sees two familiar figures off in the distance.
Aida and Vonder, both passed out on the ground with no clear sign of injury.
Quietly she walked up to the two, lightly shaking them to try and get them to wake up, but to no avail.
Then she heard it, that sound from the trail again.
That fear inducing music box… but how was it playing when there was no trail?
A fierce chill washed over her as she heard the sound of bones snapping and something approaching from behind, the music box growing ever louder with each passing second.
She needed to prepare herself, to be ready to fight, but her body refused to move no matter how hard she tried.
Stuck in a perpetually frozen state until she felt the creature right behind her.
Lily could hear Six calling out to her, but couldn’t make out a single word as her body moved on its own, slowly looking back at the darkness behind her.
Standing there was a twisted, malformed creature that looked like a man fused with a scarecrow.
It’s mangled form stood taller than she could’ve predicted, easily 9 feet if not taller.
Bone and wood seemed to merge together as it snapped and shuddered, hunching over to gaze into Lily’s eyes.
Though it had a sack for a head there was an unusually large grin painted on the bag for a mouth, it looked almost real… and its eyes shone a vibrant and unnatural ruby red in the darkness.
It peered into her very soul, keeping her locked in place as it reached for her with long spindly fingers that looked sharp as needles.
The music grew fiercely loud as the creature’s fingers came closer and closer to her eye, reaching for something.
Then came a blinding light and a whistle as a small girl ran in front of Lily, holding up a staff that looked too big for her, she shouted one simple word.
“SHIFT!”
At that moment everything turns bright white, then as it dies down they’re outside in the clearing again, the strange creature nowhere to be seen.
The girl seems to be panicking a bit though, and looks clearly exhausted as she lets out very heavy breaths, using the staff as a support for herself.
Though there’s no time to relax as the music soon returns, the darkness begins to envelop them all again.
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The girl raises her staff again, but can’t muster the strength to do anything as she falls to her knees.
Slowly the music grows louder, one the creature’s mangled arms emerging from the dark floor as it pulls itself into reality.
Its twisted form freezing Lily on the spot once more, however something was different this time, she could hear Six.
“Let me handle this, you’re going to have to trust me though, I’ll need full control and for that you’ll have to synchronize.” Six began, but was cut off as Lily mentally screamed at him.
‘JUST DO IT!’
Six seems taken aback but begins the process, merging fully with Lily as a new melody fills her ears.
A light and ethereal one, it sounds otherworldly yet comforting, however it holds a hint of darkness lurking beneath the surface.
The feeling of Six’s presence invades every sense she has, making her eyes screw shut as she tries to focus.
“Hear my melody, let it take over and meld with yours.” Six calmly said, his voice soothing her mind a bit. “Once this is over you will have complete control again.”
Lily begins to calm her mind, feeling Six’s very presence take over her body, a strange cooling washing over her as she felt their melodies meld together.
As Lily’s eyes open now they’re no longer their normal blue, instead replaced by Six’s glowing blue and unearthly yellow.
Her hair changes to white as a surge of power washes over the land, causing the darkness to ripple and the emerged creature to freeze, gazing upon this transformation in shock.
Even the little girl didn’t know what to make of it.
Lily, or rather Six, focuses on the creature, eyes locked solely on it as they speak in unison, Lily and Six’s voice overlapping perfectly.
“How many have you devoured? Quarlain, creature of nightmares, it is time for you to become nothing but a memory.”
The creature charges upon hearing this, fingers aimed to pierce right through their throat, yet the attack never arrives, meeting an impossibly thin barrier of mana, so thin that it’s transparent.
Yet it held the creature at bay with no problems as the duo raised their right hand, a paper talisman forming from thin air.
Just as quickly as it formed dozens of unknown characters began forming on it, creating a complete magical artifact in under a second.
The girl could only watch in awe and amazement, this was the first time she’d seen magic being used on such a level.
To the untrained eye this would seem like beginner stuff but it wasn’t, no, this was far beyond what even she was capable of.
The barrier was thin enough to be invisible, yet strong enough to hold back a slayer level threat with ease… that in and of itself should be impossible for even the most accomplished mage, yet they were also using creation magic for the talisman, magic thought to only be myth!
Sure it was possible to turn the proper materials into an item, but created a solid object from just the natural mana of the world? It was unheard of.
In an instant the duo casts the paper talisman onto the Quarlain’s head, making the creature stumble back from its attack.
The characters upon the talisman begin to glow an azure blue, having fully locked onto its target now.
Without wasting another moment the duo raises their right hand, tracing it in a circular motion to create a giant glowing orb around the creature.
Quietly they leave their hand in an open palm, focusing on the center of the orb, the magic building and building as the creature begins trying to break out.
Then, just as it built up to the point that even the little girl was finding it hard to breathe, the duo closed their hand, crushing the orb in on the creature and causing a ringing sound to echo throughout the woods.
When the orb vanishes there’s nothing but a mask resembling the creature’s face on the ground.
“Containment complete… may you fade into a forgotten memory.” their combined voices ring out before Lily returns to herself, though feeling much more exhausted now.
Lily slowly glanced around, seeing that everything was fine now she began to relax a bit.
Vonder and Aida were still breathing, thankfully normally as well so there was little chance of any actual injuries.
That creature was now contained as a mask… however Six had managed that.
Then there was the girl, who looked completely awestruck as she stared at Lily.
“Hey, are you alright?” Lily asks, a bit surprised that her throat was feeling better now after the resonance.
The girl is quiet for a moment before realizing Lily was talking with her. “Oh, uh, yeah I am… thanks for asking.” She seems a bit timid and awkward, clearly a bit nervous about talking after witnessing all that.
“Well thank you for your help back there, if you hadn’t come along my friends and I might not have made it out of there.” Lily replies while trying to ease the tension a bit with her usual friendly tone and smile. “What are you doing out here all by yourself? Did you get lost?”
“I…” The girl pauses, looking a bit sad and carefully deciding her words before continuing. “Yeah, I did…”
“Hmm… well if you want you can tag along with me.” Lily calmly says. “When my friend wakes up we’re going to head back to somewhere safe.”
“Really? You’d let me tag along?” She replies, eyes clearly full of surprise as she holds onto her staff protectively.
Lily nods. “Well of course, you helped us out so it’s only right to return the favor.”
“Ah, right.” the girl nervously replies but weighs her options a bit. “I’ll tag along… but can I ask you one thing?”
“Sure, what is it?” Lily asks while moving a little closer.
The girl hesitates for a moment, nervously looking side to side before shouting. “Please make me your apprentice!”
“Huh?!” Lily is taken aback, mind racing as she tries to figure out how to answer this. “Why would you want to be my apprentice? I’m not even that great with magic.”
“Are you kidding me?! That magic you just did was stuff no one else could pull off!” the girl cries out in excitement. “Even the idea of a barrier that thin or creation magic are just pipe dreams for most of us!” She quickly bows her head and asks once more. “Please, take me on as your apprentice.”
Lily can’t believe what she’s seeing and hearing, her mind racing as she tries to find a way out before sighing and giving up. “Alright, I’ll make you my apprentice but you can’t expect anything amazing out of me, alright?”
The girl smiles brightly at this, nodding happily. “You got it!”
Lily returns the smile and pauses for a moment, noticing Vonder and Aida begin to stir.
Quickly she picks up the mask and hangs it on her belt, returning over to the girl.
“Well if you’re going to be my apprentice then introductions are in order, especially before my friends wake up and probably panic…” she clears her throat and holds out her hand. “I’m Lily, an outlander, it’s nice to meet you.”
The girl’s amazement seems to only grow more as she grabs Lily’s hand to shake it, Lily now noticing a rite on her hand.
“I’m Eileen! I hope we can be good friends!”