Maybe their luck wasn’t all bad. They came in search of clues and ran into the very woman they were looking for. Avida thought that there were an awful lot of coincidences happening today. Why would the woman suddenly show up there and then?
Rhea continued to rub the sore spot on her head as she glared up at the ones standing before her. Right before they had come in, she was trying to retrieve a box of files on a high shelf. Startled by the sound of people approaching, she accidentally ended up tipping the box onto her head, scattering the materials all over the floor and causing herself a great deal of pain.
Of course, she recognized the mercenaries instantly. But she also recognized the little girl trailing behind them. Compared to their last encounter, Rhea’s demeanor now was entirely different. She looked calm and calculated, completely lacking any sign of cowardice as she faced them.
Behind Avida, a hand reached out to grab the back of the mercenary’s jacket in a white-knuckle grip. She spared a glance behind her and saw that Bambi was staring at the researcher with wide eyes, trembling slightly in fear, face pale.
“Well, you certainly caught up quick,” Rhea grumbled, finally standing up and dusting herself off.
“You’re lucky we were hired to find you alive, otherwise I’d be puttin’ a bullet between your eyes right now,” Avida said, voice dripping with disdain.
She didn’t think much of it the first time they had encountered the woman. It was hard to scrutinize someone who was groveling and crying. But now, just looking at the scientist’s face was enough to make her blood boil. The woman was responsible for Bambi’s condition. Not to mention the countless others that most likely underwent her experiments. She was a vile person who was capable of treating other human beings like lab rats. Avida’s trigger finger itched at her side the longer she looked at her.
At Avida’s very apparent hostility, the first traces of fear flashed across Rhea’s face. Her expression twisted unpleasantly, and beads of sweat formed on her brow. She raised up a pair of shaky hands in surrender.
“Woah, let’s not be hasty. I’m sure we can come to an understanding,” she sputtered nervously.
“We’re not the only ones who caught up to you. I’m guessing those Church of Solomon lackeys outside are looking for you too?” Bellicosa asked, not willing to entertain the researcher’s antics.
Bellicosa had been wondering who the Church had followed here. Seeing Rhea, it all made sense. But just how special was this researcher?
“Damn, I’ve spent too much time here,” Rhea complained to no one in particular. “That tired guy was more competent than I thought.”
“What are you doing here anyway?” Avida questioned.
“I’m looking for something,” Rhea responded as though it were obvious. She gestured to the scattered papers around the floor.
“Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait,” Bellicosa urged. “We’re running out of time.”
Just then, a large banging noise came from the direction of the trapdoor down the hall. It sounded like someone was attempting to pry it open. The lock held for the moment, but it wouldn’t be long until they broke through.
Rhea looked increasingly worried at the sound. She knelt down on the ground and started scanning through the papers frantically, searching for something known only to her.
“Can’t you leave it for now? We gotta get outta here, and you’re comin’ with us,” Avida said in frustration.
“I can’t go without this,” Rhea explained. “If you just buy time to let me find it, I’ll gladly go with you.”
She was still sifting through documents as she spoke, organizing the papers into piles of who-knows-what. She had regained her calm composure, once more taking her time as she scrutinized over the information.
“How are we supposed to buy time?” Avida asked incredulously. “There are at least thirty of ‘em up there! We’re severely outnumbered.”
The banging on the door got louder and increasingly more consistent. It sounded like it could burst open at any moment. Rhea paused her movements on the floor and raised her head with a questioning glance.
“Are you forgetting something? You have an extremely powerful weapon by your side.”
Avida frowned. “Bambi is not a weapon. She’s a person,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Then why don’t you ask the person what she thinks?” Rhea retorted, turning to the girl. “Bambi, can you take care of them?”
Bambi crept out from her place behind Avida. She seemed to think about the woman’s words, hesitating for just a moment, before nodding.
“You’re not seriously going to make a child fight, are you?” Bellicosa argued.
“Am I making her? I asked, didn’t I?” Rhea responded with a small smirk. “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. I’d be more worried if I were the people out there.”
“What’s wrong with you?” Avida snapped. Rhea just waved her hand dismissively in response, as if the matter was not worth discussing.
“I’m not a fan of bloodshed, and I don’t care for fighting. Go up and handle it quickly. With Bambi, it should be a piece of cake. I’ll stay here and keep searching,” she stated.
“Now you’re orderin’ us around!?” Avida erupted.
However, as if on autopilot, Bambi immediately let go of Avida’s jacket and started heading towards the trapdoor. She was no longer trembling. In fact, her hands were alarmingly steady as she peeled the mask off of her face and took a deep breath. The faint glow slowly crept its way across her body.
“Bambi, wait! You don’t have to do this!” Avida called, chasing after her.
Only now the girl was moving with inhuman speed and reached the trapdoor in the blink of an eye. Before anyone could utter another word, she sprung the door open without even unlocking it. She had torn it completely off its hinges and flung it outward, knocking back whoever had just been attempting to pull it open from the other side.
The child let out an eerie screech as the last of her consciousness was occupied by the demon within, and charged out into the dwindling twilight. Avida hurriedly followed after her. The sound of fighting broke out above ground and traveled its way to where Rhea stayed knelt on the ground, looking content. She clicked her tongue in satisfaction before returning to sorting through the documents as if nothing happened. Bellicosa was stunned, and could only look at the woman in disbelief.
“You are…” she trailed off with a huff, as if the sentence wasn’t worth finishing, before rushing to follow her partner.
Rhea gave no indication that she had heard the other, and began to hum softly to herself, once again alone in the laboratory. She shuffled a few more papers around before lifting one of the remaining folders up to her face, flipping it open and scanning the top page. As she read, she broke into a small smile that continued to grow. Breezing through the next few documents in the file, she was positively beaming.
“Bingo.”
—
Outside, a gruesome battle had broken out. Bambi was tearing through opponents ruthlessly, tossing them aside like ragdolls. As Bellicosa emerged from the trap door, she saw that more than half of the Church officials had already been eliminated. Their bodies laid scattered across the ground, some of them in pieces, as scarlet blood soaked the earth.
Glancing around, she saw no sign of Sister Katherine, and guessed that the nun had made herself scarce. Avida stood stock still a few yards away, as though she were powerless to move before the scene in front of her. Her gun wasn’t even raised, dangling uselessly in her grip. The little girl they had traveled with, who was timid and gentle, was now leaping around with ease, her face plastered with a wicked grin.
Bellicosa watched as Bambi twirled through the air. All things considered, her movements were extraordinarily graceful. Even as she laughed maniacally, her motions were fluid and relaxed, dodging the swing of a sword effortlessly with a spin. She landed behind the man who swung at her, reaching into his chest and pulling out his heart through his back before dropping it to the ground. The man hit the dirt lifelessly with a thud as blood fell like rain.
With an expression that could only be described as glee, the girl then picked up the sword, weighing it in her bloody hand despite the fact that the metal was burning her skin, as evidenced by the steam that rose the longer she held it. Bellicosa noted that at some point the girl’s gloves and boots had been abandoned.
Bambi tossed the sword up and down a few times playfully, as if testing it out, before hurling it to the side. It impaled itself into the chest of a nun to her left, who had previously been attempting to ambush her. The woman plopped to the ground, the weapon still protruding from her body as her eyes glazed over.
Avida was startled. The power that Bambi showcased was far greater than Sophia’s had been. In fact, it was much beyond that of any demon she had encountered. Even full demons would have a hard time keeping up with the young girl’s movements as she fought her way through the small army. The area around the old orphanage was now littered with enough corpses to fill a graveyard, and it was all due to one little girl. Avida hadn’t even used her own pistol yet…
Suddenly, she was broken out of her mesmerized state by a loud clang next to her ear. She turned, and saw Bellicosa blocking a warhammer that had been aimed at her skull. Avida had been so distracted by Bambi that she hadn’t even noticed this person sneak up on her. Her eyes regained their focus and she realized that the man who had tried to bludgeon her was none other than Father Abrams. He still had a cigarette dangling from his lips as he pulled the hammer back.
“Damn, I thought I could catch you off-guard,” he said, leaning back casually. He swung the hammer over his shoulder with one hand and used the other to hold the cigarette, letting out a puff of smoke as he talked.
Avida glared at the man. Honestly, he had caught her off-guard. Even though she’d taken a few more beatings than usual recently, she was no newbie. She should have noticed someone approaching. Father Abrams was perhaps a lot stronger than he let on, if he was able to get that close to her so quickly. If it weren’t for her partner blocking the blow with her gauntlet, Avida’s head might’ve been knocked clean off.
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“Thanks,” she grumbled. Bellicosa just nodded.
The two launched into an assault without another word. Bellicosa began to swing her gauntlet at Father Abrams, engaging him from up close. He dodged her punches as she dodged his hammer, the two locked in a seemingly even battle of offensive and defensive moves. Now, Avida was free to take a few steps back. She quickly raised her pistol and fired at the man, but he seemed to predict where the bullets were going to fly and avoided them, the shots just barely grazing him.
Bellicosa finally managed to grab the hammer’s long handle, but when she pulled on it, it didn’t budge. Surprised, she infused more magic into her gauntlet and tried again, but it was to no avail. Just how strong was this guy? Father Abrams began to twirl the hammer, forcing Bellicosa to let go unless she wanted her body to twist with it.
“I really hate fighting,” the man grumbled to himself.
She took a few cautious steps back as Father Abrams continued to spin the hammer, before he abruptly slammed it into the ground forming a small crater. Bellicosa was able to dodge the blow, but the ground shook with the force, knocking her slightly off-balance. The priest used the momentum to propel himself forward, landing a kick on Bellicosa and sending her skidding backwards… right into Avida who was reloading.
The two toppled to the ground with a groan. Avida felt like she was getting crushed, and Bellicosa quickly rolled off of her. Bellicosa thought that kick was definitely going to leave a bruise. Avida just thanked the gods that she managed to not break any bones from the impact.
“Sorry.”
“No need.”
Before the two could regain their composure and stand up, Father Abrams was in front of them, raising his hammer over his head. In a flash, a small shadowy figure appeared behind him. A tiny fist was aimed right at the back of the priest’s head, but as if he sensed it, the man ducked just in time, quickly sliding out of the way.
He turned his attention to the newcomer, instead swinging his hammer in her direction. Bambi blocked it with little effort and pushed back with force. To everyone’s surprise, Father Abrams didn’t go flying. Instead, he dug his heels into the dirt and merely skated back a few meters. However, that was hardly the end of it.
Bambi gave him no time to relax, chasing after his recovering form instantly and following up with another attack. Father Abrams seemed to keep up, the two of them trading blows back and forth. They were moving so fast it was hard to follow, and Bellicosa felt herself become dizzy just from watching. So instead, she figured the little demon had it handled and turned her attention to her partner.
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Avida grunted as the pair finally fully stood.
They looked around and noticed that all the other clergy members had been ‘taken care of’ already. A slew of corpses littered the ground in varying states of destruction. The thick smell of blood in the air was enough to make one’s eyes water. Even the two seasoned mercenaries felt a little sick at the display.
A few moments later, both parties were still unrelenting, and Father Abrams seemingly had enough.
“This is becoming too much trouble,” he muttered, before shoving Bambi away from him.
The girl stumbled for just a second, but when she looked back up, the man was gone. Avida now saw why Father Abrams had moved up the Church’s hierarchy. He really was incredibly skilled. If he had even a little ambition, he probably could have been an archbishop by now. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he had no interest in politics.
Now that her opponent was gone, Bambi’s attention was back on the two mercenaries. Only, it wasn’t really Bambi. It was a bloodthirsty demon using Bambi’s body, who was only interested in destroying humans, and had no care for who was on what side. The creature was slowly approaching the duo, who were preparing to defend themselves despite knowing that they stood no chance, when she suddenly stopped.
The reason was that Rhea had just popped out behind her. The researcher, for some reason, had her eyes squeezed shut as she emerged from the trap door. She also had a thin folder clasped in her hand.
“Oh good, you’re done,” was all the woman said before jabbing Bambi harshly at several points along her back in a flash, knocking the girl unconscious.
As Bambi fell to the ground, Rhea reached her hands out and pulled the mask back over the girl’s face, fastening it into place. The whole time, the researcher’s eyes remained closed. The marks on Bambi’s body gradually faded back into the dull purple indicative of Pneuma Morta in its inactive state, and her breathing slowed to a peaceful rhythm. Rhea let out a breath of relief before scrunching her nose in disgust.
“I know that horrible, metallic scent. We’re surrounded by corpses, aren’t we?” she mumbled, shaking like a leaf. “I thought that would be the case, but still.”
“Thank the gods I don’t turn you into one,” Avida snapped. “I hope you got what you came here for, because we’re leaving.”
“I did,” Rhea nodded, waving the folder for them to see. “But I can’t go with you yet.”
“Why not? And what’s wrong with your eyes?” Bellicosa cut in.
“Nothing’s wrong with them,” the woman said with a frown, eyes still shut tightly. “And I haven’t found what I’m searching for. It’s not here anymore. What I got was information on the current location of it.”
“Nooo way. We are not prolonging this. First, we’re taking you back,” Avida firmly stated, grabbing Rhea by the elbow and dragging her along through the field of mangled corpses.
Bellicosa wordlessly picked up Bambi’s slumbering frame and followed suit. Rhea kept her eyes squeezed shut the whole time, even going so far as to cover her nose with her free hand to try to prevent the stench of blood from reaching it. Avida noticed that she was trembling quite hard in her grasp, but ignored it in favor of pushing forward. If Rhea tripped over a few severed limbs as she was being dragged, that was too bad.
Once they got a bit farther down the dirt road, and the remains of the orphanage and the bloody battle surrounding it were no longer in sight, the group came to a stop. Avida released Rhea’s arm to pull out her phone and call for another guild car to pick them up. Then, she pulled out the burner phone and dialed up Atlas.
“Yes?” the man's voice answered after a few rings.
“We found your girl,” Avida said, cutting to the chase.
At this, Rhea finally opened her eyes and offered an inquisitive look. There really was nothing wrong with her eyes, the reddish-brown hue sparkling with curiosity. Once again, Avida ignored her.
“She’s not- whatever, that’s not the point… Wow, that was fast,” Atlas responded, clearly surprised.
As Avida took a few steps away to talk over the details out of earshot, Rhea turned her attention to Bellicosa.
“So, who hired you to find me, anyway?” she asked curiously. “I can’t believe I’m so popular.”
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see for yourself,” the mercenary dryly replied.
Rhea pouted at the lack of response. By the time their ride pulled up, the sun had already long since set in the sky. Finally, the group piled into the vehicle. Avida climbed into the back with Rhea, while Bellicosa sat in the middle, placing the still sleeping Bambi gently in the seat next to her and fastening the seat belt gently.
Avida leaned back and closed her eyes, the exhaustion from the past two days starting to seep into her bones. She cracked an eye open to glance at Rhea, who was clutching the file folder close to her chest as though she were afraid someone would steal it.
“Don’t try anything funny,” Avida warned. She closed both eyes again before adding, “Atlas said we should wait at the hotel we’re heading to, and he’ll send someone to pick us up in a few hours. For now, he paid for a room we can use to rest.”
Everyone was silent for a while, before Rhea decided to speak up.
“So what’s your guys’ favorite color? Mine’s purple.”
“Shut up,” Avida groaned, trying in vain to rest her eyes.
“...”
“Who’s Atlas?” Rhea asked a few seconds later, still curious.
“Stop talking or I’ll beat you up,” was Avida’s reply.
The van was quiet for the rest of the ride.
—
The hotel Atlas had arranged was surprisingly nice. Although, maybe not so surprising once they remembered that he was filthy rich. It wasn’t too fancy, nothing that would warrant them unwanted attention, but definitely a few steps up from the sketchy inn they had stayed at previously.
Bambi was carefully laid down in one of the double beds. The girl was still out like a light, barely stirring at all for the entire journey. It was a little concerning. Bellicosa turned to look at Rhea, who was sitting on the edge of the other bed and kicking her feet absentmindedly.
The mercenary was astounded at how someone capable of such awful things could look so innocent and unbothered. She also didn’t appear to be much older than Avida, if at all. If she didn’t know any better, Bellicosa would think the woman was just a pretty, young socialite or something, what with the light blonde hair and carefree attitude.
The researcher gave off a totally different vibe now that she had ditched the lab coat for a more casual look, an oversized purple sweater covering most of her frame. It was hard to believe this woman was conducting human experiments on children up until very recently. Speaking of…
“What did you do to her? Why has she still not woken up?” Bellicosa questioned her.
“I only reinforced the seals already there. Leaving a demon in control takes a lot out of a person’s body. It’ll be a little while longer until she recuperates and wakes up,” Rhea calmly explained.
“Seals?”
“Hmmm… I suppose you wouldn’t know about them. I guess my wonderful invention hasn’t been spread to the outside world yet,” the woman answered woefully.
“Normally when a person has contracted Pneuma Morta, the infection worsens and spreads until they are a fully-possessed demon,” she began to explain. “There is no way to cure the infection, and everybody’s infection spreads at a different rate until the soul is fully consumed, correct? Well, I developed seals that can be placed in the soul of the host using a special type of magic, which stops the infection from spreading past a certain point. They act like blockers. The host can still draw on the demon’s power and regenerative abilities, while the demon can no longer fully possess the host.
However, they aren’t perfect. The farther along in an infection the seals are placed, the less effective they are. Same goes for the strength of the demon. Weaker demons are easily suppressed. The host will never lose control, but they also won’t have much power to draw on. Stronger demons offer a lot more power, but it comes with added instability. The host is more likely to lose control, and with more frequency. But as long as the seals are regularly reinforced, the host can still maintain control. Does that make sense?”
Avida flopped down onto the bed.
“Ugh, my brain hurts,” she groaned.
Bellicosa simply nodded to show the researcher that she understood.
“So does that mean that Bambi’s demon is particularly powerful?” she asked.
“That’s right! As long as the seals are in place, Bambi will never be fully possessed. However, they need to be reinforced often, and she is highly unstable and can oftentimes lose control temporarily, like today. But she sure is strong, isn’t she? Our Bambi is the first successful host of a major demon!” Rhea said proudly.
“Successful? So there have been other attempts?” Bellicosa questioned with narrowed eyes.
Avida also lifted her head up from where it was buried in the comforter.
“Of course, there have been many attempts. Chances are, any demons you’ve encountered before in the wild were naturally occurring minor demons. The hosts were infected all on their own. Major demons are much harder to come by. They need to be summoned into the host. Until Bambi, all attempts to plant one into a host failed,” the researcher stated.
She continued to kick her feet. Her face did not give any indication of the serious topic they were discussing. Every aloof kick made Avida want to tear the woman’s head off. How could someone so heartless actually exist? So much for good and bad in everyone, Avida didn’t see anything good in Rhea. She was practically a demon herself.
“And by failed you mean…?” Avida asked with a glare.
“The host’s body couldn’t withstand it. They died,” Rhea said matter-of-factly. And then her entire body shuddered, as if the thought disgusted her.
Avida nearly launched across the bed at her. Luckily, or not if you ask Avida, Bellicosa swooped in and blocked her partner from strangling Rhea. The researcher hopped off the bed in alarm, looking shocked that Avida would want to harm her.
“I thought we were having a nice conversation. What happened?” she asked in genuine confusion.
Bellicosa didn’t know how a smart person could be so stupid. This woman just kept digging her own grave deeper and deeper every time she opened her mouth. Avida turned to her partner, pure outrage on her face.
“Forget the money, I wanna kill her,” she spat. Bellicosa sighed.
“I know, but Atlas said she was important. Think about the bigger picture,” Bellicosa reasoned.
“Are you stressed out? Go look outside at the moon, it’ll help,” Rhea said earnestly.
To be honest, Bellicosa also kind of wanted to kill the woman. She was so flippant it was infuriating, and she talked about evil deeds like they were something to be proud of. If Bellicosa didn’t trust that Atlas knew what he was doing, she would have gotten rid of Rhea ten different ways by now. But he did insist that she was brought to him alive, and if she was important for the resistance, then she was probably important for all of them. Regrettably.
“What are you searching for, anyway?” Bellicosa finally asked, hoping to change the subject and prevent her partner from committing homicide.
“Leverage,” Rhea replied simply, a large smile spreading on her face.
Okay, Bellicosa did not like the sound of that one bit. An eerie one word answer didn’t exactly lift the mood, and she was at a loss for words. She was thinking about what to possibly say next when Rhea suddenly beat her to it.
“I’m going to take a shower. I can still smell the scent of death on me,” the woman said as she stood up, her nose scrunched in distaste.
For the first time tonight, she placed down the file in her hands on the nightstand, before walking into the bathroom. The two mercenaries made eye contact as they waited in silence. Finally, the sound of the shower starting could be heard through the wall. As if the running water were a signal to move, Avida shot up and grabbed the file, opening it and looking over its contents hurriedly. Bellicosa also made her way over to see what was inside.
In the folder, there were a bunch of documents that were hard to make sense of. Clearly, they had been written in some kind of code. Frustrated at this realization, Avida angrily scanned the words, trying to glean anything from them. Bellicosa also took some of the documents and reviewed them, both of them searching for any sort of clue as to what Rhea was seeking.
After a few minutes, they came to the conclusion that there was no way they were going to be able to read it. However, on the last page of a document, there were some words circled several times in red. Some discussion later, the two figured that it was most likely an address. They continued scrutinizing the folder, trying in vain to decipher its contents, until about twenty minutes had passed. Bellicosa suddenly felt something wasn’t right.
“She’s been in there a long time,” she remarked aloud.
Realizing her partner had a point, Avida shoved the documents back into place and sprung off of the bed. She rushed to the bathroom door, finding it locked, and without pause, kicked it open. The shower was still running, but Avida’s eyes were instantly drawn to something else. The window was open. It was small, but still big enough for a person to squeeze through if they really wanted to, especially one of Rhea’s size. Avida couldn’t believe it. They were on the fifth floor!
Bellicosa came up behind her and sighed once she understood what had happened. She placed a hand on her partner's shoulder, who was still sputtering in disbelief, and held up the document page with the circled address.
“Well, at least I think I know where she went.”