As Allen wondered how he was going to deal with the predicament of having his magic turned against him, the Shades continued their assault mercilessly. He hurriedly tumbled to the side of one claw swipe. Nera then came rushing in from the side and swiftly kicked the Shade in two.
“What’s wrong with you? Why are you just sitting around?” Nera questioned.
Allen rose completely to his feet and spoke briskly. “Magic’s on the fritz right now. It’s not a good idea to use any.”
Nera’s brow furrowed but before she could prod further, they noticed a monster closing in on Katelyn. Connor rose to the occasion to protect her and displayed a strange ability to wrap his arms in water to strengthen his blows. He was able to take out two of the remaining four Specters this way.
“Watch out!” Allen shouted as one of the Specters had gotten onto the ceiling and was now swooping down at Katelyn who was behind Connor. He could not move in the way in time. The violinist’s eyes widened in fear, but a narrow streak pierced through the darkness barreling toward her. It disintegrated right before her eyes and a specter stone harmlessly dropped to her feet.
The attack had come from the person next to her, Tierney. She was wielding a wooden crossbow attached to her right wrist. It was entangled around her arm like it had spent years growing around it.
Nera finished off the last Specter and the train car became silent. There did not seem to be any more approaching. Suddenly, the water fell from Connor’s arms and he went down on one knee. Similarly, Tierney also clutched her entangled arm in pain.
“Is this the power of the Wraith stalking Katelyn?” Tierney asked with strained breathing.
“I think so,” Allen replied as they all gathered together. “It looks like we’re in a dream realm that causes our veins to burst open if we use magic.” A chill passed through him just voicing that inference out loud.
“Hold on second, that doesn’t explain why I was harmed as well.” Katelyn voiced with smears of blood still visible on her hands and ears. “All I did was play the violin, it did all the magic on its own.”
“That’s true,” Tierney affirmed. “However, maybe this Wraith doesn’t care about that distinction.”
“Whatever the case, unless it’s absolutely necessary, I say we all avoid using any magic until we find the Wraith that’s the source of this Mirage,” Nera stated sternly.
“Hmph, that’s easy to say when you don’t have any magic to use.” Connor, the one who seemed to be reeling the most from the backlash, spoke up. His arms were a worrying red like he just sat out in the summer sun for a day with only his arms uncovered.
“You got a problem with my directions, how about you keep using it and see how long it takes for your arms to become shriveled-up raisins?” Nera fired back.
Connor grimaced and took a step forward, but Allen got in between them. “Hold on, arguing won’t get us anywhere.” Allen looked at Nera and then at Connor. “She just has a weird way of showing her concern.”
“Hey! Why are you taking his side?! Aren’t you supposed to be neutral at least?” Nera huffed.
“His friend is the one who’s going to be paying us. Why would I be neutral?” Allen honestly remarked.
Nera groaned and then scanned over their surroundings. The car was filled with ankle-deep water and specter stones faintly glittering in it. The fact that both she and Katelyn could see what was going on meant they had to be in a Mirage. “Whatever, we need to check up on the others. They might’ve run into a similar situation.”
Allen’s eyes widened. “You’re right! We need to hurry and catch up to the rest.” He turned to leave but a hand grabbed his shoulder.
“Stop right there, Lackey,” Nera commanded. “You need to pick up all the stones that were dropped. We are here for the pay, right?”
“Yeah...you’re right.” Allen searched through the water to retrieve the specter stones and was ready to leave when an idea sprang to him. “How about we see if we can use the Dream Mirror to figure out what kind of Wraith we’re dealing with?”
“Didn’t think of that, now you’re starting to put your thick skull to use,” Nera replied while already reaching for her pocket. With a twirl, her baton transformed into a handheld mirror.
“What’s that supposed to do?” Katelyn asked with trepidation.
“It’s a magic tool like your violin. Except this is able to reveal a person’s greatest fear.” The mirror’s owner explained.
“That means if the Specter became a Wraith from haunting Katelyn, it’ll show up in that mirror?” Tierney surmised while her crossbow retracted into a small wooden bracelet that she covered up with her sleeve.
“More or less. It’s hard to read normally, so I have to draw out whatever shows up.” Allen answered with a shrug.
After explaining the process, Katelyn hesitantly agreed to look into the mirror’s surface. Shortly after, violet lines begin darting back and forth throughout the reflection. Allen studied them closely and in a little over a minute, was able to make a rough sketch in his journal.
“I recognize that figure. But that can’t be it, could it?” Connor stated with a shaky voice after everyone got a chance to peer at the page’s contents.
“I wish it wasn’t the case, but it’s hard to say otherwise,” Katelyn said before continuing with a grim look on her face. “This is the patron spirit, Fossagrim, of Nathan’s family. It’s supposed to be the same one that can be called by this violin.”
“So, we’re dealing with a Spirit instead of a Specter?” Allen asked in confusion.
“...That shouldn’t be the case. Spirits are neutral beings that don’t attack humans…but they can act as a beacon for Specters.” Katelyn reluctantly admitted.
“What?” Nera uttered in confusion. “Then, why would anyone let you have it then?” She asked without mincing her words.
“They didn’t at first. Before I joined the troupe, there was never enough around for me at home. I was a pickpocket, a shoplifter, I would grab anything I could get my hands on.” Katelyn started while holding out the violin by its neck.”One day, I strolled into a random music store and picked up a shiny instrument lying on the counter that was calling my name. Nathan had brought it in for some routine maintenance and was in the back with the owner.”
“And there wasn’t any security?” Allen asked, now immersed in her tale.
Kately shook her head. “Apparently, there were some barriers to detect Extract signatures but they never anticipated a Craftless girl with a lockpick who knew how to keep the doorbell from ringing.”
Nera cracked a smile at the oversight.
“Eventually, they traced the violin’s power back to me and it was discovered I had played it. I was told that no one had been able to play it in hundreds of years. I think Nathan gained the hope that he needed that day, and I found my path as well.”
“Yes.” Tierney agreed. “That magic tool has the potential to save many lives if she can master it. That’s why we’ve all committed to protecting her until she does. That hope has saved many of us, including me.
“‘That’s right, just the magical power she’s able to call forth was able to save my life once. It’s why I can’t buy anyone of the troupe betraying us in such a way as targeting Katelyn nor do I think the Spirit we’ve all been counting on could be a Specter.” Connor affirmed calmly.
“Well, there’s nothing I’ve heard that says a Specter can’t take the form of a Spirit.” Allen reasoned after healing their side. “For now, let’s just go meet up with everyone else.”
They all agreed and began heading outside the car.
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***
It only took them a few minutes to meet up with everyone else. They explained that they had not encountered anything out of the ordinary themselves. However, Allen noticed that Charlotte was missing from their party and was told that she left to go to the restroom.
“And you just let her while there’s a monster potentially running around?!” Allen fumed while pulling at the bandages permanently wrapped around his arms as if to strangle whoever allowed that to happen.
“Relax, she’ll be fine.” Evelyn started. “She’s only in the next car over and my ears are pretty keen to boot.”
The young man gritted his teeth. “I hope you’re right. By the way, how long are you going to keep that voice-throwing power of yours a secret?”
No one in the car seemed to be surprised by the revelation.
Evelyn pressed a finger to her cheek in pretend shock. “How did you find out?”
Allen crossed his arms and thought it over. “It was probably when you used it on Iyo and Xalia to keep them blowing the cover on magic to Charlotte. I figured it had to be someone who knew that they were aware Charlotte was not in on it and Luka did not have a clue about the weird noises earlier. That just left you.”
“Now that you mention it, most people can’t hear whispers from a hundred yards away. I never noticed she was special, because I could always hear her normally.” Nera commented while rubbing her bionic ears that were usually concealed by her black and white hair.
‘More like most people can’t hear whispers from ten yards away.’ Allen thought.
“Being that is your power, what is its source?” Iyo questioned.
Evelyn smiled confidently. “I’m a Grendel. Just like you and all the other members of my troupe here. I’m a Siren who can serenade the masses with a voice that travels for miles.” There was no visible reaction from Iyo, but Allen was sure that some gears were turning in his head after realizing he was surrounded by so many others like him.
“So, that explains the powers we saw earlier from Connor and Tierney,” Allen said with a hand to his chin.
“Yep, Connor’s a kelpie, and Tierney’s an elf,” Evelyn added. Connor sighed and wiped away some of the dried blood on his arms to show light blue scales underneath.
“Well, I’m only a half-elf.” Tierney specified while revealing pointed ears beneath short hair. They were studded to the brim full of piercings, making them almost as metallic as Nera’s.
“Glad to see we’re all getting to know each other, but we really should focus back on the matter at hand. Virtuoso, did you figure out anything while we were separated?” Nathan urged.
“Oh, right?’ Allen snapped back into detective mode. “We discerned that one of the troupe was probably behind the Specter attacks with how close the first one was from the festival’s announcement, but the frequency of the train’s stops called that into question.”
Nera nodded. “Who wasn’t at the underwater theater when Katelyn was attacked for the second time?”
“It should’ve been everyone, even Charlotte. I took a head count at the time.’ Tierney asserted.
“She’s right. We had everyone else go on ahead to rehearse, so there would be fewer people the assailant could use as cover. It was only after the train’s second rotation at noon that anyone could have returned.” Nathan followed.
After further probing, Allen found out that after the train returned for its second rotation at noon, Connor was the first to arrive back at the theater through the front entrance while everyone else who was there this evening besides Katelyn and Nathan came from the Gateway.
Allen proceeded to reveal that the monster they were looking for bore a resemblance to the spirit Fossagrim. The young man was now wondering how it seemed like Nathan had been unable to detect the Specter’s presence if he was supposed to have been just in the other room when the second attack happened.
“Some Specters are better at concealing their miasma than most. You shouldn’t think too much about it.” Nathan responded unconvincingly.
“Are we even sure it's a Specter at this point? What do you know about your family’s pet Spirit?” Nera asked but Nathan seemed hesitant to answer. He was saved from the question by Evelyn chiming in.
“I hate to break the interrogation, but have you all not noticed something strange? The train hasn’t been moving for a few minutes now.” Evelyn pointed out.
“Huh?” Allen looked over to the windows and true enough, the water was completely still. “...We have to check on the train operators in the engine room!”
He called on the rest of Virtuoso along with Nathan and Katelyn to follow him. He knew he could trust his allies to help in a fight while prioritizing the safety of the Wraith’s main target, Katelyn. As for Nathan, he had some more questions to ask from him. He told the rest to stay back to wait for Charlotte’s return.
When they passed the car they initially were in, they saw that the water level only continued to rise. A few more cars passed and they were half-way knee deep in it.
“Jump!” Nera suddenly exclaimed. Only she was able to make it out of the way in time before everyone else’s legs were swept out from under them.
The origin of the attack was an aquatic tail that was as wide as a tree trunk. The rest of the monster’s body issued forth from the water. It had the visage of a bluish-green humanoid with fish scales and gills from the waist up and a giant sea serpent’s tail from below. Long seaweed-like hair extended from the Wraith’s scalp as well. Bizarrely, it had a lyre protruding from one of its slime-ridden arms.
Another strike from the monster’s tail whipped through the air this time. They were just barely able to dodge out of the way. Iyo pulled out his sheathed knife and ran the blade along the monster’s scaled exterior. He opened up a large cut on it but his hand was hit with a wave of pain that created an opening for the Wraith to circle back and charge at him from the front.
Nera vaulted and tackled Iyo out of the way and the Wraith rammed into the other side of the car with a crash that shook the entire floor. They quickly got up to their feet with sloshing water as the monster collected itself and prepared to attack again.
“We can’t use magic against this thing. It’ll cause our blood to start gushing out from whatever we use it with.” Nera explained.
Iyo’s eyes narrowed while looking at the Specter. “Then, how are we supposed to-” Blood-red tears fell from his glowing orange eyes and he had to wipe them away. “There is no other choice then.”
He thought about placing his goggles back in hopes of mitigating the effects but shook his head. His Scanning ability was always active as long as his eyes were open. Simply covering them up with his goggles would just cause blood to fill them up.
“Geez, there goes my entire bag of tricks if all my potions come with worse side effects than a medical ad,” Xalia smirked bitterly with her hand hovering over the stylus at her hip. She glanced over to Allen. “Got any plans to get around this, Leader?”
While being kept occupied dodging the chaotic whipping of the water beast’s serpentine appendage, Allen racked his mind for a way out. Eventually, he bumped his back up against another wall of the car and hastily dove to the side to avoid another tail thrashing.
“Hold on, that monster should have even more of a problem moving around in this cramped space than we do.” Allen declared. “Nera, since you’re the only one not affected. Try to get it tangled up by its own tail.”
Nera tilted her head. “Sure, but I’m the one calling the shots here, Lackey. Tell me what you are planning so I can give you the go-ahead.”
“Heh, fine. I would rather avoid it, but we’ll have to use some magic to get through its tough scales. How about we make the most of it by having me, Iyo, and Xalia hit its top half as hard as we can?”
Nera nodded then leaped into the air. Everyone else agreed to that course of action along with her. The daring acrobat bounced off the floor, ceiling, and walls like a pinball and got Fossegrim to follow along.
“Magical Kick Breaker!” With a fierce kick, Nera slammed Fossegrim through a loop of its tail into tying up its own body firmly. It struggled to budge a centimeter in this state.
“Now, let’s go!” Allen yelled. Allen charged in with a punch, Iyo came from the left with a slash, and Xalia fired off an explosive bubble from the right. With no other options, Fossagrim raked its claws against the infused lyre, and a torrent of sound cascaded in every direction, knocking everyone to the ground. Their insides felt like they were being torn apart.
As they were just barely making it to their feet, all the water in the car gathered around Fossegrim in a maelstrom. Allen covered his arms just in time for an outpour of water that further drenched everyone’s clothes.
“I’m so over this water ride now…” Allen bemoaned as he opened his eyes. “Huh?”
The Wraith was nowhere to be found. Just then, Connor and Tierney came rushing in. Tierney gasped at the complete wreck that the car had turned into with chairs being up-ended and the floor being smashed with debris strewn everywhere.
Tierney helped Nathan to his feet who was bloody from taking the brunt of the damage by shielding Katelyn while Connor assisted Katelyn. The young woman was coughing up all the water she had inadvertently consumed.
“We came over because we thought you guys might need our help, but what happened?” Connor asked.
“Why don’t we ask your boss?” Xalia inquired while holding her stylus to the theater troupe’s director’s head like a loaded gun.
“Xalia!” Allen exclaimed.
“Think about it, Allen. The way that Specter disappeared was too abnormal. You heard what that “Soothsayer” guy said about the Inquisition, right? I’ve had an inkling for a while now that they’ve been using Specters to hunt people and magical artifacts down.”
“I kind of get what you're saying but could you explain what the Inquisition is first?” Allen asked, earning an eye-roll from Xalia.
Nathan was the one to answer instead. “It’s an archaic name for the Paladin Order’s Occultic Containment Division, the Concealers. Their job is to make sure that dangerous Craft doesn’t end up in mundane hands and reveal magic to the greater public.”
“Exactly, a Specter with the same appearance as your family Spirit doesn’t just show up. They’ve been working on framing you for a while I imagine. What exactly did you do to get on their bad side?” Xalia pressured.
Allen was at a loss for words as the implications behind Xalia’s words set in. It all did make sense. This monster was being controlled by the same people that were behind the Warg and Grimhildr. For some reason, they also saw the Verre Chateau as a point of contention.
Nathan heaved a sigh and closed his light blue eyes for a moment before opening them up again. “Fine, I didn’t think it would matter but maybe that was my own cowardice talking. First off, you all must know about the Uncrowned Monarchs, right?”
While everyone else agreed, Allen was forced to meekly raise his hand in ignorance.
“I might need a quick refresher…”
***
The once metropolitan area was now reduced to a charred landscape. The already eternally dark sky had any trace of light covered up by a pitch-black smog. The only thing that provided light to the veritable no man’s land was the fires that sprang forth from all over.
The once towering skyscrapers were nothing but rubble shredded to pieces and crushed underfoot by ferocious abominations conjured from humanity’s worst nightmares. This sight was unrecognizable from Atelier City’s normal visage.
A man with light blue eyes opened them up to that spectacle. He was clad in a now torn sapphire cloak and beaten armor, he rose slightly from the ashes while lying on his stomach. He looked around and saw a woman in a maroon overcoat helping up a man once in a white outfit that was now smeared with dirt and blood. On his other side, a larger man with a muscular physique and a ferocious face had his teeth bared while struggling just to stay on one knee.
The steel-willed warrior seemed to be glaring at something from beyond the smoke that was encircling them. The blue-eyed man turned in that direction and saw it, everything flooding back to him with horror.
From a ways away, there was a tall woman clad all in black in such a manner that her raven-like hair blended in completely with her garb. She stood in the middle of a field of corpses, the eye of the storm. She scanned the four of them over with lightless eyes and then looked up at the sky.
Sweat poured from each of her onlookers in the face of her presence. After all, that mysterious entity was the cause of all this destruction. The thousands of people who fought that day were all going up against a mere fraction of her power. The battle ended for everyone when she appeared herself on the battlefield. Of the hundreds that survived by that point, those four were the only people who did not die in an instant.
There was no relief that came from being spared, for what did it mean to be on the side of death itself?