Garuda arc

The Fenrir: Fury's Imperial Warship

Fury the Fenrir and Circe the Vermillion witch were sitting in the dining hall eating dinner. Fury had a huge decapitated dragon head in his hand and was chowing down on it without a care. Circe meanwhile showed more etiquette and had a small piece of dragon meat on her plate and cut it into smaller pieces with her knife and fork.

Circe ate the piece of meat and then wiped the meat juice off her mouth with a napkin. She took a look at Fury who had crumbs all over his mouth and meat stains all over his side of the table. She looked at the wolf man with disgust.

"Bloody hell. You know it wouldn't kill you to show proper manners at the table now in front of a lady. Must you be so....ill-mannered?" Circe cringed out. Fury looked at Circe with a bored expression but kept chewing as he began to talk.

"Yeah? So what? It's my ship. I'll eat however I want. If you have a problem with that, you can always eat in your room."

"I'm just saying you can be a bloodthirsty animal and still be somewhat decent at the dinner table. Sigh. It's a shame Lord Zenal only instructed you on how to vanquish his enemies but not how to use a napkin." Circe said as she took a sip from her wine glass. Fury laughed in response.

"Hahahaha! I can't believe I'm getting lectured on my behavior by a witch who eats the souls off her victims! Well like you told me when you came onto my ship. My soul doesn't have much time left so I might as well live how I like." Fury said.

"Is that why you brutalized Garō during your little teaching session? Honestly your treatment of my servant is appalling. Tama literally had to piece him back together you know?" Circe questioned.

"Tough shit. The kid wanted to get stronger so he's gotta tough it out if he wants to catch his prey. Besides, I do respect his conviction. He wants nothing more than to capture his prey and kill him with his own hands. I'm similar in that sense. But first I want to see what my prey is truly capable of. And you're the same as me aren't you? In the end we're both predators who live to find prey that peak our interests." Fury said.

"Pft! HAHAHAHAHA! I'm sorry. Did you just compare yourself to me? With all due respect Fury we are nothing alike. Do not forget that I have seen your soul so I know what you believe in. And I find this comparison to be very insulting." Circe said with venom in her voice.

"Oh? Well little one, tell me then. How are you so different from me?" Fury asked.

Circe proudly as she swirled the wine inside her wine glass.

"For starters, unlike you I have a reputation to uphold. For example, To my clients I am their graceful and generous benefactor. I find potential clients, help them obtain their deepest desires in exchange for something in return and when all is said and done I keep my word. Yes I benefit more from my deals with them but despite what you and many others think of me I never break my promises. As long as they return the favor. If they fail to do so.....

Circe's eyes went black, her teeth became sharper, her tongue became longer like a snake as she licked her lips and her voice became distorted as she showed off a sadistic smile.

"I could keep their soul and they can become my loyal servant for all of eternity! HEHEHE-!" Circe quickly coughed to stop herself. "Pardon me. That was rude. Anyways, I'm not just a witch or a contractor, at my core I'm also a performer." Circe said.

"Is that so?" Fury asked.

"That's right. You are a slave to Lord Zenal. His attack dog. And you kill only to quell your own hatred of him. It's so boring. What's the point of doing something if you don't have fun along the way? What's the point of killing everything in your path if you have no one to share your work with? And I don't mean with your soldiers, I mean with the entire world. All of Esos is our stage Fury. And as performers, we must not only entertain our audience, but give them a show they will remember for the rest of their miserable boring lives." Circe explained.

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"Like those people you killed back at Orange Town? The ones who tried to escape with the Insurgency? Who was left there to be your audience exactly?" Fury asked. Circe snapped her fingers.

"This is Sojo. You two have met before. He used to be one of the insurgents that took a shot at me when I made my grand entrance near Orange Town. It's true I killed everyone else there and took their souls but not him." Circe said.

"Why?" Fury asked. Circe looked at Sojo and gently touched his masked face.

"Because during the show, which I call "the slaughter of a hundred lambs", I looked into his soul and saw a man who would make a great witness to the terror that would befall him and everyone in that forest. You should have seen his reaction to all his comrades getting torn to pieces by my yokai. The look of terror and anguish when he saw what I did to those citizens. Oh it was....glorious." Circe finished in her disjointed voice.

"BUT despite what I put him through that night there was a happy ending. He became mine. As did all those poor souls that night. They became my yokai. New editions to my family to help me set up my next performance for the world to see. And in return they live happily and free." Circe said. Circe then let out her hand and a red magic circle appeared on the dining room floor.

"Fool my enemies with your trickery! I summon thee: ISUMA!" Circe casted.

The red magic circle glowed and out appeared a small badger looking animal but his fur was black and white and he had a orange and white striped bandana wrapped around his head. This yokai was known as a Mujina but his name was Isuma also known as just Isu for short. He yawned and wiped his eyes. He then looked up to see his mistress Circe smiling down at him. Isu got happy and excited.

"Isu! Isu!" Isu shouted in excitement. Isu was a very young yokai so he couldn't speak properly yet. Gitsune would be in charge of teaching him how to form words and sentences. Circe cupped her face as she blushed and smiled brightly.

"Awww! You are as adorable as ever, Isu! Come here! Come sit on mama's lap so she can feed you!" Circe said in excitement.

"Isu!" Isu crawled over to Circe and she scooped him up in her arms. She began slowly feeding him the pieces of dragon meat to him. "Say aw." Circe instructed. Isu did what he was told and ate the piece of meat. Fury was now just baffled and confused by what he was seeing.

"Is this a joke? That thing is just your pet. All your yokai are just your slaves. Brainwashed to do your bidding. If you ordered them to cut their tongues out they would do it without hesitation." Fury said.

"They would but I would never ask them to do something as heinous as that. In fact I never once mistreated any of my yokai. And you are wrong, they aren't my pets or my slaves. They are a part of my family. Why inflict abuse and cruelty onto your servants when you can shower them with love and respect instead?" Circe said as she rubbed Isu's head.

"Ha. Sure I get that. But you can't actually expect me to believe that you are actually helping the people you kill by turning them into monsters." Fury said.

"You are free to believe what you like. In conclusion, to my clients I'm their benefactor. To my audience I am their performer. And to the world, I'm Circe, the Vermillion Witch. My yokai and I live how we please. And no one, not even the dead guardians, will ever take our freedom away from us again." Circe said with a menacing smile.

Again? What does she mean? Does she have some connection to the guardians? She looks like she's 18 but how old is she really? Fury thought.

Fury thought about asking but decided against it because he had a feeling she would deny it. Fury wiped the food off his face and stood up.

"I see. Well then Vermillion Witch let me correct you on something. I don't kill to quell my anger. I kill....to end it. Permanently. It seems we both have our reasons for bloodshed and that we both suffered under the thumbs of legends, but what we can agree on is that neither of us like being under anyone's thumb ever again. As long as we stay out of each other's way, I think we can get along just fine. Don't you agree?" Fury asked with a grin.

Ending his anger huh? Well I guess I am a bit intrigued now. Circe thought.

Circe lowered her menacing demeanor and gave a more calm smile and stood up.

"Hmph. It seems you aren't completely boring after all, mutt. Fine, I can agree to that." Circe said with a smirk.

"Good to hear. So tell me, what exactly do you have planned for your prey when we get to Titus?" Fury asked.

"Oh I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise of my plan, but I'll tell you this. When I'm done, Merlin and the Mage Council are going to wish they killed me hundreds of years ago. And as for my prey, well...

Circe looked at her red wine inside her wine glass. She manipulated the drink inside to swirl and it showed a face. It was Emilia. Circe's eye glowed crimson red and she smiled evilly.

"Let's just say I have a promise to keep. Hahahahaha!"