"Nin, is something wrong?" Vadei asks me as I continue to fidget at the edge of my seat. Right at the back end of this place. There was no one to my right and there should've been... Larishazza had still not come back from whatever it was she left to do...
"Lari isn't back!" I let out with clear worry.
"Shhh!" someone in front scorned. Only for them to violently rock forward when my foot just barely fit before me. The sudden impact having both disturbed the row in front and severely damaged that seat.
"Excuse me!?" a woman let out quietly yet harshly. A tone that seemed to disappear the moment I rose up to meet her. Initially eye-to-eye, but I quickly soared over her.
"Nin!" Einervaene snapped just as quietly before I snapped towards the door.
"Sir, please stop disturbing the audience." a nervous member of staff told me as I started to chitter louder and louder.
"Tsk." I let out before I crashed into my seat. Snarling as the row I disturbed walked out of the room. An effect that seemed to nearly disturb the show. But, whoever was performing, this masked man, he was not phased.
"Nin, it's okay, she will be back." Vadei tries to soothe me with. A slightly louder tone this time as those in front had vanished.
"You know I can't... Not after the way she's been acting." I say with a slight choke to my words. Was this my fault!? She has referenced it so many times... Yet, I can't understand why she was behaving like this.
She was too kind to just stew angrily over what I asked of her. She showed no signs of this behaviour even while she was drunk later in the night. In fact, it only seemed to amp up previous joy and merrymaking. Not a single sign of remorse or anger.
Then, recently, that all seemed to change at the drop of a hat... Anger I had never seen from her. A degree of irritability I would've expected from Vadei... It was like someone else was forcing their way into her.
To say nothing of how distracted she was back at lunch. Yet, her behaviour wasn't the only thing that worried me at lunch. Well, it's more hindsight now. But, that group, they had not performed yet...
They were supposed to have been two acts ago according to their word. But, this pamphlet we got when we finally got in. It says that they were all the way towards the end. In the establishment's words, 'the closing act to the mighty peak of the light.'
A phrase that seemed to speak of this man going by how enthralled everyone was. However, his choice of music, no matter how talentedly he performed it on his lonesome. It did nothing to calm me. This music was designed to make you feel tense...
Harsh drum beats and the sharp pull of strings. A strange, almost sinister beat to it all. I know I was just losing myself in the music as well... Yet this was just not right.
There was something wrong... There had to have been something... Lari should be back by now. Regardless of if she gave a time or not.
She had been gone for too long and this was unacceptable!
"Nin? Nin!" one of them called out to me before I shot out of my chair. Stomping out to the bar just outside the performance chamber. And, in an effort to clench my worries. I snatched up someone's drink and swallowed it.
Glass and all.
"He-" he began to complain before he likely froze in shock at my exposed features. There was no screaming. But, I could see that in the corner of my eye... The security of this place was on the move.
"Nin? Nin!" Einervaene said as she came up to me and placed her hand on my shoulder.
"Where is she, Einervaene?" I asked pointlessly as there was no way she could've known. She was one of the first in... I was the last one to come in. The last one who could have actually caught sight of her.
"Nin, it's okay. Just calm down. I know, the music is quite tense, isn't it?" she tried to joke before I shifted my gaze towards her. And she leapt in surprise as our eyes met.
"It's not that..." I complained before I rested my face into my palms. Digging the sharp points of my claws into my head as the chittering got worse. What if this really was my fault!? She's mentioned it enough for that to be potentially true!
"You're worried about her, aren't you?"
"And you aren't!?" I may have presumptuously asked as she reacted by raising her hands.
"I did not say that! It's just..."
"I'm sorry... Something just isn't adding up."
"Then ask her when she comes back?"
"She should be back by now... Lari should be in there enjoying the show with us. But, no she's..." I started to say before a glass was placed before me.
"Drink, focus." the barkeep said to me without a sign of fear.
"Y-You aren't afraid...?" I ask. Just letting this confusion fill my mind in the hopes it might calm me down.
"Not when you are worried for your bird." the familiar man answers while also encouraging me to drink.
"Hey, weren't you...?"
"Serving your lunch earlier?" he asks back with a laugh.
"Why're you here?" I decide to ask as I tremble with a near-empty glass in hand.
"I work part-time here when I am not full-timing at my place. I get to enjoy the music for free and I carry on doing what I love." he laughs out before he pours me another drink. A small notetablet even started to be filled out as he did so.
"Sounds like you're a dependable man." Einervaene compliments with a smile. Something that makes the man chuckle a little longer.
"No, I just love a good talk over a drink." he says before he takes a simp from a tankard he had.
"Can you find someone else to talk to, then?" I soon asked him as getting lost in this conversation was pointless! I needed to find Larishazza!
"Nin!?" Einervaene called out as I suddenly shot off the stall. Carrying on until I left the building with a sudden temperature change hitting me outside. Screams from the surprised filled the air and I was under constant watch.
"LARISHAZZA!?" I cried out into the somewhat quiet streets. Frantic worry all about me.
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"Th-Thank you!" I cry to the doctor as I clutch my chest. It had been done. My mistake had been corrected and I could now head to Deadly Sound's performance! Oh, I really wish I had not missed it yet!
"E-Eh, Doctor?" one of the nurses nearly squealed as the lights flickered.
"Hm, odd. These are all connected just fine to the magic network." he lets out in confusion before he taps a light.
"How much do I owe you!?" I excitedly ask before he shakes his head with a sigh.
"D-Don't worry... Just, leave, please."
"Oh, okay..." I say quietly with clear hurt. I was only trying to thank him for helping me... I know he clearly wanted me to choose otherwise. But, I couldn't risk hurting Nin with my lapse in judgement.
However, as he wanted me to leave, I just did so. The worry I had previously was now all gone. I had been freed from the potential terror that awaited me... I could now just focus on telling Nin how I felt!
No matter what decision I came to! I would ensure we would remain the best of friends! Yet, before I could move forward. I felt a familiar pang.
"Oh, right after we just solved something caused by you." I sigh as I chew my lip. Normally when I got stressed, I just went and found someone to hook up with. I did it quite often. And, the last time Nin nearly found out, it was just before we left.
It made me laugh just a little knowing he nearly saw me for what I actually was. I never made an effort to come off as a pure woman. But, it was clear he thought highly of me. And this scorned upon behaviour of mine could destroy that...
There was another way I dealt with stress, however. And that was to just spend time with my friends. Coincidentally as well, we were all in this city and ready to go! I just needed to reach the music place again!
Yet, I was struggling to remember which way I came from. Maybe because it was dark or because it was an unfamiliar place. Either way, if I could not find a map, I would be perpetually lost. I guess I could ask for directions too.
But, even the busiest cities turned quiet at some point, I suppose. I couldn't blame them either. With how this place was made, your magic could no longer keep you warm. It was like you had none to begin with!
It was a very annoying flaw in this city. I could not enjoy my magic as I ran or danced. I just had to lunge forward with powerful strides and hum. And, as it was a special occasion for them.
I decided to hum the song I heard while I was fighting them! Because regardless of the pain it caused me, it was still good music. It was just a shame I could not really break out dancing in this city. There was no room between all the alleys and crowds.
"Hey, it's the park!" I let out once I saw a landmark that could guide me back to where I wanted to go! So, obviously, I skipped on over and tried to get a way back from the map I used last time. Yet, I was incredibly confused, because it said something completely different. Had someone graffitied all over it since I was in there...?
'You will pay!' it read.
"I don't think you can." I tease as I look onwards at the quiet park. Giggling at my silly joke before I skip on ahead towards the place I should've always been. Yet, even out here, I could hear the wind carry the music and I just could not help myself.
"Oh, my, young lady, that is quite inappropriate!" one well-dressed old woman comments. Yet, her face held a smile and her tone was not chastising like her words were.
"If dancing to music is wrong, then I do not want to ever be right!" I declare as I weave my way past anyone in my way. Even without my magic, I was still a well-trained acrobat and a fine dancer. And, not to toot my own horn. But, maybe the best dancer ever!
I wasn't too sure if my dancing matched the music, though. It was quite sinister, whatever was playing. But maybe it was because a villain had been revealed!? I had heard of one man who showed stories as he performed.
A lone man that was world-famous for his skill at arms in the proverbial sense. Just thinking about it made me get covered in goosebumps. Oh! I better not be missing it!
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"Mozzenbeet! I'm coming!" I gently sang as what was surely his music grew louder. I just couldn't wait to get there! Actually, now that I remembered it as well, his world tours always ended here!
Right here in Thrurstradtur! So if he was here, he'd be here for ages and ages until the next one was all prepared! I never got to see him back in the Grand Kingdom. But, here!?
"I could see him whenever I want!" I giggle excitedly. And it was that excitement that drove me on and on until I came to a stop at a silent junction. Only one man was down this way, so I might as well take it!
"Die." I then heard him whisper so clearly before my belly started to burn..
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"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" the vile woman screamed in shock and horror as my holy blade went into her. And although this sword worked under the divine concept of goodness. I, its wielder did not. And I thrust it in deeper far more than was needed.
"Foul woman." I spit as she clutches me with shock in her eyes. She had no idea this would happen just like all my victims. And how I enjoyed what I saw in her eyes. Regret, fear, terror...
All the emotions her child would have felt should they have been allowed to grow and learn...
"GAH!" she lets out when I finally let her slip off of my sword. How I did it, however, only made the hole on both sides wider. With it, more blood would spill and she would howl louder.
"Run as fast as you can!" I tell her with a wide smile as she slowly starts to take flight. A clear trail of bloody breadcrumbs leading me straight to her. But, I did not follow it directly. I just paid attention to how her sinful blood painted the pavement and embedded stone.
I could be anywhere I wanted after all. So I had my fun and reappeared before her everytime she turned a corner. Laughing each time as she tried to run away before I grazed her red skin with my sword. Bringing her closer and closer to her knees with each step towards a thousand cuts.
"SOMEONE PLEASE! HELP ME! HELP ME!" she cried in terror as she started to smash her desperate fists against whatever she could find. Windows, doors and even garden ornaments. Which, I was kind enough to clean and put away properly as I slowly stalked her.
"Oh, that's a shame, they all think you are mad!" I laugh as she desperately latches onto someone. But, my control was so absolute that they did not see what I did. All they saw was a crazed woman howling gibberish. It disturbed them a lot, but not as much as it did her.
"S-Somebody... Please...!" she cries before she falls to her rear after provoking her wound.
"Put you out of your misery? Not yet, not yet at all!" I laugh just before I start to run. Kicking my armoured shoe tip straight into her face. Drawing more blood and frightening those around her. I was starting to let them see her wounds.
Yet, I had to confess myself to being a liar. Because they just saw her attacking herself. And it made me laugh and laugh until I lost control. A brief lapse in my concentration that saw the floor become so slippery as to slide her off.
"Whoops!" I let out innocently before I stopped her body as if it never got away from me. To her, though, I was too slow in my efforts to attack her again. And she got away. But, I smiled and reappeared in a completely different style of dress.
"Sumbrudy..." she moaned through a cracked jaw and broken, bloody gums. And, she eventually clung onto my disguised form desperately.
"By the gods!?" I gasp in mock horror as I protectively take ahold of her as she broke down crying.
"Prease helwp mieh!" she begged as she started to try and keep her jaw together to ease the pain.
"Hold on, we'll go find the guards!" I tell her before I pick up most of her weight and take her through a dark alley. Smiling in the dark before suddenly slamming her on the wall. A small dagger in hand that I started to insert over and over. Cackling like a madman the entire time as as she gasped over and over.
"HELP ME!" she let out with one last defiant roar as she started to slowly slide down the wall. Her eyes seemingly filled with tiredness rather than pain. And I laughed at her as she started down at her bloody hands.
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"LARI!?" I roar all of a sudden after I heard that. And I repeated that roar over and over as those who were out here started to panic. It was not me, however, that seemed to have them scared. It was someone else.
"No one is coming to help you!" a malicious voice cackled as I heard the familiar sound of a blade in the wind.
"LARI!" I roar as I turn the corner. Smashing my body against the stone, brick and metal each time.
"Oh, what do we ha-" the man with a wide smile began to say before I punched him away.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" I roar as I force him away in shock.
Yet, his smile eventually came back and he seemed intrigued, "Ohoho? Now this is new indeed." he cackles before he taps his sword. And, in a moment, he was gone.
"SOMEBODY HELP! ANYONE!?" I roar with tears in my eyes as I clutched Lari's bloody body in my claws. Roaring and roaring over and over as her body started to feel so very cold. All the life it once had was just vanishing and I did not know what to do!
"NIN!?" Vadei screamed before she came to a stop by the alleyway. A terrified gasp barely being hidden by her mouth as I sat on the ground clutching a bloody body.
"SOMEBODY! HELP!" I cry again as I try to shake some life back into Lari's torn up body. Thankfully, blaring sirens and the feeling of magic filled the air.
"SECURE THE AREA!" an armoured soldier orders as the area suddenly filled with men.
"LET GO OF HER!" what must've been an emergency responder yelled as they started to pry her out of my hands. I wanted to stop them, but, I just couldn't summon the strength to stop them because of this city!
"GET HER MOVING, NOW!" was the last I heard before my ears seemed to swell shut. I was left watching as Lari's body disappeared with those men. All before I just seemed to lose the ability to look around once I saw my palms. They were so red...
Soaked in her blood... The precious, nesscary blood of the woman I loved... The one who gave me so much strength and so much joy... This was her blood...
Even as a familiar tail entered the corner of my vision, I could still only focus on the blood. How could they have done this!? Lari was the sweetest girl out there... She didn't deserve this...
"L-Lari..." I tremble out slowly as I brought those claws to my face. Smothering myself in it as I tried to hide my tears.
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"Dammit!" I snap in Nin's face before I scramble to my feet. Whatever was going on, Nin could handle himself! But, as much as it pained me to do so. I had to leave him here so I could tell Tiyanat!
She needed to know what had just happened and I would make sure she would!
"HEY! YOU! STOP!" one of the guards shouted at me before I slid under them. Narrowly avoiding his grip as I got back up. Slamming my feet down as hard as I could to put some more distance between us.
"Let her go, you know she's not the one we want!" another tells him as if this was a common occurrence!? What in the name of the gods had just happened!? I did not see it, but, I knew full well what had happened from all that blood.
Eventually, I made it back into the opera house and I stormed into the main hall. Disrupting the performance where Nin's earlier behaviour had not. And, as much as I hated all these eyes baring down on me. I hated this sudden cold sensation I felt even more.
None of us could use our magic yet I was still somehow cold as I stared at Tiyanat. I had not so much as uttered a word but she quickly gathered as I silently stared at her. It must've only been a few seconds at most before she desperately ran out. The others, however, could only guess as to what has happened.
"Did something happen to...?" Einervaene began to ask to which I nodded rapidly. A horrified gasp left her as her mouth was also covered up. And, I used my nose to try and figure out when Tiyanat had gotten. Nin was best left on his own but she needed someone to be there for her!
"WHERE IS MY SISTER!?" she screamed at one of the guards while another quickly started pulling information up. A task that seemed to be rather difficult as she was lashing out ceaselessly at them.
"She's family, take her." the senior one said before he nodded at a few more guards.
"Wait! Where're you taking her!? Where's our friend!?" I demanded to know.
"I-Is she alright!?" Einervaene struggled to ask as a crowd started to form.
"ALL OF YOU, BACK!" a large guard roared as they started to cock their guns at us. Which, in this city, would be fatal. No one but the city guard could use magic...
"City-Guard Officer, Sir. What about the...?" I somehow managed to overhear as the crowd behind us grew more disturbed. Where they pointed suggested only one thing. But, I was too scared by the implications.
Was Nin going to be blamed for this!?
"IT'S HIM AGAIN, ISN'T IT!?" one woman screamed in horror. Yet, the way they all reacted as Nin was slowly pulled out from the darkness confused me. They were surprised to see him here yet they were focused on someone else.
"RETURN TO YOUR HOMES IMMEDIATELY! MARTIAL LAW IN THE LOCAL AREA IS NOW IN EFFECT!" one man's voice boomed through a device just before aircraft flew overhead. From what I could hear, it was more than just a couple. It must've been a whole wing or more!
"What's going on...?" I ask in confusion as this seemed excessive for what had happened to Larishazza...
"My love! Over here!" Rose'lhia began to cry out as she tried to get past the guards.
"He with you!?" one of them barked in question before Nin was shoved our way.
"Move!" another barked. And we were all collectively forced into moving Nin through the city.
"You lot students?" one guard ended up asking us to which we nodded.
"In here...?" I ask quietly as we were suddenly corralled back into the opera building.
"LOCKDOWN EVERY STREET! I WANT HIM FOUND!" a woman seemed to bark before the doors were slammed shut in front of us.
"W-What's going on?" Einervaene squeaked in fright before I put a hand on her arm. Yet, all of our attempts to comfort soon went to Nin. He had not moved or made a sound since we got him back. It was as if someone had broken him...
"Nin? Come on, answer me!" I bark in his face after we put him down on a bar stall. And, behind him, the barkeep's expression turned dark.
"So he had struck again, hm?" he asked us, much to our confusion.
"Who? Who has done this to my love!? SPEAK!" Rose'lhia angrily demanded to know as she looked Nin over with a surgeon's eye.
The barkeep, however, took a sip from his drink to calm his nerves, "Smiling Jhurack."
And, the moment he uttered that name, Nin came to life. A vicious growl took over his features and his growled in the man's face. We tried to pull him back, yet, we weren't strong enough. His size was too great for us in our suppressed state.
"Who is that...?" Einervaene asked nervously as the barkeep rested his hands on the wood.
"The Uncatchable Killer." he utters while he cautiously watches Nin's body tremble with rage.
"Nin, you need to calm down." Einervaene tries to tell him with a soothing voice and gestures before he snaps his jaws at her.
"NIN!" I shout in disgust as this was unacceptable.
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"Hurry up! HURRY UP!" I scream at the men taking me to wherever my sister had been taken. If they felt the need to extract her like this, it must have been bad... And I couldn't handle that. Dread and worry was all I could feel.
I would need to make sure she is okay! Tell Mum and Dad about it! I would get stuck in the middle of a political crisis! And, if Larishazza has just been attacked, might I be too!?
"Any signs of him?" someone asked over a device.
"Negative, target is ignoring the sister." he responds before I am suddenly pinned to the wall as the guards raise the weapons.
"Distortion detected!" one confirms before a smiling man suddenly appears/
"FIRE! FIRE!" they bark before orange light starts to fill the street. Yet, somehow, that man's laughter rang louder than the guns beside me.
Then, another order came through, "PURSUE THE TARGET!" with aircraft flying by just after.
"Larishazza..." I mutter as they start to move me again until we reach what must've been the nearest hospital.
"Smiling Jhurack is not interested in the sister, repeat, not interested in the sister." the guard who lingered near me tells his superiors before he runs off with the others.
"WHERE IS SHE!?" I roar nearly instantly after watching those men disappear.
"She is in surgery right now, we cannot let you in!" a nurse tells me as the hospital staff starts to get in my way.
"LET ME SEE HER! LET ME SEE HER!" I scream over and over as the mass of doctors and nurses pushes me back. All the way to the wall we went until they suddenly stabbed something into me.
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"Larishazza..." I muttered quietly as I stared at my sister's mutilated body. She was still alive, yet, for some reason, they weren't doing anything. Her wounds had been cleaned and sealed. But they had not healed her...
Wasn't the magic of everyone withheld for things like this!? Why weren't they pumping her full of it!? It could not have been because it would have been too much for her... I could see pressure devices right now!
"Come on... Speak..." I cry as I start to tightly clutch her hand. I wanted to try and look at her while avoiding the injuries. But, she was covered in them. Stab wounds, bruises, cuts and broken bones...
There was no escaping the horrifying sight of what had happened to her. Yet, the quiet I had woken up to quickly disappeared and a fight could be heard. But, I knew who it was the moment I heard him howl. Nin had come to see her...
I wanted to be left alone with my sister... But, it could not be helped. I was not the only one whose heart had been touched by her smile. There were so many out there who loved her for the sweet dancer she was.
Yet, I could not muster the will to go and tell the hospital to let Nin in. If someone had been this vicious to my sister... There was no way that they were just going to let it slide. I needed to make sure she was safe...
I had to...
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Nin roared so close to the door before his natural strength broke the locked door. And, he became quiet the moment he saw her. Just like I was...
"It's alright... He won't hurt her..." I tell the angered hospital staff as I stare down at my tear-covered hands.
"Why is she still...?" he asks me once the doctors and nurses go away.
"I don't know..." I barely get out as I move closer to her head. Stroking her hair carefully before placing my face near hers. And it only made me cry more because she was still alive! There was no reason for her to be like this, still!
How was I going to tell Dad about this...? Larishazza going on that trip was enough to make him threaten war. What was going to happen if he found out about this!? I needed to tell him!
But, I did not want my friends to get hurt as he led a crusade against her attacker. It was an unavoidable escalation that I feared so much... I tried to keep her safe just so such things would not happen. I did not want to see more places lost to the violence our family's love created.
Maybe, the politics of it all would allow this place to survive. But, I did not know... Dad was so high up in the kingdom's hierarchy that he could probably...
"Don't worry, Lari, I'll find him... I'll find him and k-keep you safe..." Nin cried, interrupting my thoughts. And, I was shocked at how intense his reaction to all this was. I know they were close but...
I had no idea he would weep to this extent. Yet, I guess it was to be expected. Back at the party before Larishazza was ill... They spent it all together.
Did that mean he...?
"Nin... What is my sister to you?" I ask him as I could not see him letting this down.
"She... She... Is... She is the hope that made me want to keep on living... And now she's..." he started to say in tears before his rage boiled to the front again.
"What're you looking at?" I ask him as his eyes lock on the window all of a sudden.
"Him... It's his fault... It's all his fault..." he growls through the ceaseless tears as his legs start to crack in his grip.
"Smiling Jhurack..." I mutter in remembrance of what those guards had done. That laughing man... They used me as bait for him... But, he had no interest in me at all.
Then why did he go after my sister...?