Chapter 34 Family or Honor

❄️Snow❄️

Snow leaped off the ledge towards the still swinging chain and repelled to the ground level. The static flashes of electricity were periodically emitting from the dagger into the tracker’s chest. She sat on top of him, gripped the dagger and ripped it out. She pressed the flat of the blade against the back of her hand causing the electricity to dissipate before holding it up to his neck.

“WHERE IS LUSSURIA!”

He seemed disoriented, so she stabbed the dagger into his shoulder blade bringing his attention back.

“MY SISTER, LUSSURIA! WHERE IS SHE!”

The tracker gave a staggered laugh trailing it with a single word.

“Comedic.”

“YOU THINK ITS FUNNY THAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIE?!” Snow’s eye twitched before he finally gave his response.

“You had that look for a second, but just for a second.” A bloody wheeze emitted from his lungs before he laughed.

Snow got off him and walked out of sight. She reappeared carrying an open bear trap above her head, poised to throw it down at him.

“Since you like traps so much I will greet your face with one, This is your last chance, speak!”

“Look at that… your left arm already works again.” The only indication of emotion was the movement of his eye. “That frostblood is incredible. It saddens me to think that a woman of such resilience in this world of men can be so weak.” his eye then peered at the bear trap or rather, her trembling hands.

The feeling of numbness in her body was only replaced with vindictiveness as she prepared to issue judgment. Staring upon her bane for all of recent times, the man who caused her so much trouble. Even in his defeat that she worked so hard to get, he still wouldn’t let her save Lussuria. The star's height of his pettiness was incomprehensible. The dam of suppressed emotions of this whole ordeal, mostly anger and frustration finally exploded.

Snow would kill this man. She would subject his hard head with his own invention. She threw the trap downwards, or at least tried too. When Snow went to throw it, her arms would refuse to move. It was as if an unknown force was giving them extra strength. Out of all the weight from her burdens. This trap could not feel any lighter. It was ironic. Was it logic? Was it a weakness? Or perhaps, compassion for her sister’s wellbeing? She didn’t know anymore.

“Justify your weakness however you like. You will never get what you want. Just like Frederick. You think you are moving forward, but what you're actually doing is moving in place. A tool for those who lack your ignorance. If you can’t throw down that trap, you just prove that dousing yourself in morality only serves to dull your senses.” The tracker spoke as if he was reading Snow’s thoughts.

“Why won’t you tell me? Why not! You lost! Just tell me!” Snow yelled out in frustration.

“When the daiga mage guild wasn't forced into hiding, initiation was just like this. You would be forced to go through trials with a partner. Then, at the end, only one would be able to join. The other must die. My partner’s name was Seran. He stood above me like you are right now. He hesitated, and I killed him for it.”

“I'm not an animal like you and the rest of them!”

“But you are… deep down. I saw it with my own eye. The look of someone who has seen it all. You are either an anomaly… or the greatest liar in the world. So tell me, why do you choose to be weak?”

Just then, sunlight flooded into the warehouse from the main doors. Arthur and Crow were running in.

“Princess, don't kill him! We need him alive!”

“What are you going to do little mouse.” The tracker questioned her impending decision.

The fleeting option of killing him was quickly making the bear trap heavier in her grasp. The audacity of a man who can smile in the face of death only because she was the wielder of it. Just like everyone else. He saw her as feeble, as if holding this deadly instrument was no different than holding nothing.

Snow shut her eyes, shutting out everything.

She reopened them. Her decision was made.

“Snow stop!” Arthur yelled one final time, but it was too late.

Snow yelled as she threw the metal jaws down. A cold snap echoed in the warehouse. Arthur and Crow stopped right behind her, looking at the ground in front of her.

The tracker’s cold laugh could be heard.

“I knew you didn’t have the heart. The weak… will always be… weak.”

The bear trap was snapped on the ground inches away from his head.

“Princess, get away from him!” Arthur pulled her away from him.

“Now that the band is all here, I can leave safely.” The tracker slowly rose while gripping his chest. Arthur charged up a fireball and aimed it at him

“You will go nowhere. I am placing you under arrest, ‘tracker’.”

The tracker gave them his back before speaking.

“I would be very very careful with that fire of yours. Look around us, you think these boxes are empty?”

The group looked around and noticed black powder was secreting from the bottom of almost all the boxes in here.

“Lucky for me lightning doesn’t trigger an explosion with crystal sulfur, but fire? Heh, don’t want to use that.” The tracker answered the unasked question.

“I don’t use fire.” Crow stepped forward but the tracker raised a flint striker.

“Well, I have no problem in taking all of us to the afterlife. I don’t even think Princess Snow there can take an explosion of this magnitude. We will all die. Speaking of Princesses, you played your part well little mouse. I think I’ll reward you for those efforts. Your sister is just under this warehouse. There is a trap door under one of these boxes. Which one? I forget...” The tracker limped towards the back of the warehouse, in the direction of the door just behind all the hay traps. “I have no doubt I’ll see you again. You’ve made me quite a lot of money.” He disappeared out the back door.

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Crow followed after him, leaving Arthur and Snow alone.

Arthur gave his attention back to Snow.

“Princess, I apologize. I would have never expected Fredrick to be openly hostile against us. We are in the final stages of his conspiracy. Let me see to your injuries.”

Snow brushed him off. “Just help me look for Lussuria.” She started to push a nearby box

“Leave her to us, let’s get you out of this deathtrap and see to your-” Arthur tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she smacked it away.

“I will not leave my sister behind, so why don't you do your job and help me look for her.” She declared it as fact and Arthur didn’t give further objection.

“Okay.”

They found a trap door, but it was locked.

“We can’t blow it up obviously.” Arthur commented.

Snow looked to the center of the warehouse.

“I’ll cut you a deal Snow, if you can avoid me until the time is up. I’ll leave the key right here on this chain for you.”

The key he tried to bait her with. It was still there, dangling in the center of the warehouse over some boxes. Snow climbed on top of the boxes and pulled the key out of the chain.

“Hopefully this works.”

Snow climbed down and went to the trap door. She shoved it into the lock. And the lock clicked as she turned the key, opening the trap door.

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Arthur went first, Snow followed closely behind him. They were in a dark underground corridor. This place seemed to be safe to light a fire considering the recently lit torches that spanned the walls. Arthur was on guard ready to blast anything that would appear.

They began walking by jail cells. Looking beyond the old steel bars, each cell had strange tables with spikes and wheels. There was also dried blood all over the place. Arthur turned to her.

“Do you still wish to proceed?”

Snow said nothing but gave a strong nod.

A high pitch noise whistled from ahead of them. A small light was flying in their direction that was growing in size.

“Get back!” Arthur motioned for Snow to step back. He got into a fire casting stance; stomping one foot down and aiming his fist. Arthur punched forward, launching his own fireball at the oncoming projectile. The two fireballs collided into each other, causing a small explosion and canceling each other out. “You don’t win this! I advise you to cease!” Arthur shouted.

More lights came flying their way and Arthur shot multiple fireballs at the oncoming attacks.

“Okay, You asked for it.”

Arthur raised both his arms. Fire formed across them before he swung downward releasing fire blades in the shape of an X down the hall. The cleave of fire illuminated the hallway as well as consuming all the fireballs. The attack slammed into the wall at the end of the passageway. A rune on the wall was seen flickering before shutting off.

“It looks like that was a runic trap.”

They reached the end of the hall where the rune trap was, the passageway turned left before leading to a single metal door. The metal door was electrified with a lightning rune. Arthur got in position to shoot it.

“Wait Arthur.” Snow grabbed his sleeve, before going in front of him. She reached out to touch the door before Arthur suddenly grabbed her arm.

“What are you doing?” He whispered.

“Lightning doesn’t hurt me.”

Snow touched the door and the electricity faded away, as well as the rune.

“You disabled it?! How?”

“I thought it was the clothing Lazerous made, but lightning doesn’t affect me for some reason. I don’t know how, it just happens.”

“Alright, step back.” Arthur reached for the handle before looking Snow’s way. Snow was standing a couple of feet behind him. “Princess.”

“Yeah?”

“No matter what happens, do not enter until I call you.”

“Okay.”

Arthur swung the door open and dashed inside. Nothing but silence followed.

After hearing nothing for a couple of seconds. Snow pulled out her dagger and peeked in the room. The room seemed to be clear of threats. The room was small, square, there was a table stacked with instruments in one corner and a cage in the other. Someone was bound to a chair in the center. The person was slumped over with a sack over their head. Snow entered and got a closer look at the person. The person was wearing purple clothing.

“Lussuria?”

Snow froze in place, her heart started to race as she took in the sight.

“I told you not to enter!” Arthur tried to block her vision, gripping her shoulders and blocking her view.

“Lussuria?!” Water quickly fell from her eyes as Snow tried to get a view of her unmoving sister.

“Do not look, Snow!”

Snow was quickly feeling unbalanced,

“She… she can’t be!” The sack on her sister’s head was stained with blood. “She can’t be! Lussuria, wake up! Lussuria!” Arthur tried to hold Snow back as Snow continued to shout at her sister. “Lussuria please! Please, no.. oh gods!” Snow dropped to her knees. “I was too late.”

“So… loud…” They all heard Lussuria mumble. Arthur snapped his head towards her and rushed to help her.

“She’s alive? Thank the gods!” Arthur quickly pulled the sack off Lussuria’s head.

Lussuria’s hair was mopped all over her face but underneath the strands almost the entire sides of her temples were coated in ice and blood. She was blindfolded and the veins in her neck were pulsating blue. “Great, another illusion. It’s getting old, so please, go away.” Lussuria demanded in a tired voice.

The ice on her temples crackled as she said that, causing her to quiver.

“Lussuria are you ok?!” Snow ran up to her, While Arthur started undoing her binds.

Snow was looking at Lussuria's temples. This was the same as when Gravis had the sword injury on her back. Lussuria must have been using the Frostblood. But why her temples?

“I won’t fall for this old trick, Snow comes in and saves me only to not be Snow and it was actually a trick to get me to believe You’re not real and then-”

“I’m real!” Snow grabbed hold of her arms before taking off her blindfold.

Lussuria’s eyes opened more clearly, looking Snow up and down.

“If you claim to be real then answer this; Whats my favorite-

“Red.”

“Whats our score in-

“1-2”

“Ok, how about for Gravis’s birthday last year what prank-”

“You put powder inside her training helmet.”

Lussuria seemed to run out of questions. Before giving in.

“Ok, I give up. Greetings Snow. About time would be an understatement.”

“What did they do to you?”

“These weirdo mages in black clothing claiming to be from the ‘real’ mage guild only tried for a time that felt like several hours to alter my memories. They finally got it through their skulls that I am a superior mage and will not fall to such tactics.”

That caught Arthur’s attention.

“Did you say altar your memories?”

“Yes, they made me dream of some white room and someone that looked like Snow tried to brainwash me into thinking I was someone else. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.”

“I see.” Arthur got the last of Lussuria’s binds and Lussuria was still sitting down.

“Can you walk?” Snow tried to assist her off the chair.

“Of course I can walk. I am Lussuria, the mage prodigy of Regalia, after all. A runic mine and some attempted brainwashing only scratched the surface of my mental and physical resilience.”

“Alright, let’s get out of here then.” Snow helped her off the chair.

Lussuria took two steps before she nearly collapsed to the ground. Snow and Arthur caught her fall.

“Well, my dear sister. Upon revaluation, I regret to admit I may be a ‘little’ tired.”

“A little?” Lussuria had bags under her eyes and looked totally exhausted. She did a good job hiding it because of her pride.

“You’ve seen better days yourself, street fight?”

“If only you knew.”

They left the underground dungeon.