Folly & Agendas & Talulah

Chapter 61

Countless bolts flew at her soon after. The Phantoms stopped aiming at her. She used her senses to fish out Faust among the storm of projectiles. One bolt flew from her left; another flew from her right. One flew from above; one flew from below cover. 

"Where is he?" 

Her eyes scanned the area. Faust went invisible; sight was impaired. The ground was littered with dust, but all of it swirled in the air. Not a trace could be found with the naked eye. Ch'en concentrated her focus. Each bolt fired at her came at different intervals. One after the other, then a break –and repeat. She gripped the sheath of her sword, Chi Xiao, and breathed. A cloud of red resonated from within her sword. 

A purple bolt flew straight at her. She unsheathed her sword, and launched a wave of red towards the sender. Sharp precipices, blades and stakes headed straight towards her target. Before her Arts reached her target, she spotted Faust revealing himself. He hid behind cover, with an opening created by bent iron bars. 

Faust's green eyes were the last thing she saw before her Arts made contact...

---

"We need Sasaaa and Eno to find us~"  

Marzanna and Kaiser Rye held hands and walked. Marzanna touched the walls of destroyed buildings. Her touch left a mark so bright, it created a foreign hue in the shape of a split heart. But every touch created a different mark each time; each one had its own unique shape. A crown, a crooked smile, a shattered skull, and a hand. 

"Come on, we need to find Mamee~"

Kaiser Rye followed along; his grip was tight around her daughter's hand. He wasn't hunched over while he walked with her. The air smelled fresh to him; the slums were brisk. A cold chill wrapped his body, but his insides were warm. He followed along like a clumsy child and braced for the world he ahead of him. 

"There!"

Marzanna pointed at a tall gate; one that was the exit to the slums, and the entrance to Chernobog. Two cities on the verge of collapse are meeting closer and closer. The smoke emitted from the city's engines could by seen high up in the sky, blanketing with a grim black. Kaiser Rye bit his lips in dismay.

"Okay, Dadee. We need to go find Mamee~" 

The two Dracos trotted along, went past the gate, and stood at the edge of the Lungmen slums. Separating Lungmen from Chernobog was a vast expanse of sand. A canyon of mesa and stone was the only landscape visible to the naked eye. Kaiser Rye needed a mode of transportation; and nothing around him fulfilled it. No vehicles in sight; only dark tendrils of black and red layering the slums. 

"Come on, Dadee. Mamee is there~" Marzanna tugged on her father's hand. 

"I know," Kaiser Rye replied in a stutter. His back was stiff.

"We have to go~! Mamee is waiting for us~" 

Kaiser Rye shuddered at the thought. Talulah is no longer the mother she was. She could be considered a widow at this point. Going into Chernobog alone was not an exciting prospect. He gripped Marzanna's hand tighter while his eyes were locked at the location where the warmonger resides. 

"Dadee, are you scared?" Marzanna asked, feeling his grip. 

"What do you mean, Marzanna?" Kaiser Rye loosened his grip and stopped his daughter. 

"Dadee knows... Mamee also knows~" 

Marzanna met her father's sullen eyes. Kaiser Rye had a tear crawl through his eyelashes. 

"I gotta go~"

Marzanna's hair began to vanish. The fresh air around them began to fade; it deteriorated back into stench of blood and sweat. The ground became a veil of white. A sliver of black climbed into the air like a snake wrapping a tree. And despite all of this, Marzanna kept smiling. 

"What? No! Marzanna— please!"

Her arms, her body, her shape, all disappeared. Kaiser Rye no longer felt a hand through his fingers. He reached for her and only touched air. His hands scrambled in front of him. Every attempt was in vain. 

"Marzanna! No– don't go!" 

Kaiser Rye fell to his knees. Marzanna's body swirled into a pillar of light. A ball of light flew into the air. From that instant, the wounds that were healed on Kaiser Rye's body resurfaced. Cuts and gashes reopened; but this time, no blood came out. As he helplessly watched his daughter fade away, he saw his own face reflecting off the light. The two hand-shaped scars on his face shimmered a bright red.

"Marzanna..."

He didn't shed a tear. He couldn't. He couldn't hold onto her long enough. What stood between him and his daughter was death. The gate to Chernobog opened from afar. A ray of light returned to whence it came. And when the light disappeared, Marzanna said her goodbye. 

 "Marr~ zaaa~ naaa~ will be a hooooome~"

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 (A/N): Thank you for reading this chapter!

- Next chapter will be a flashback one.

- As you can tell, the pacing is getting faster.

- I can't handle pacing too well, but I do my best!

- Toodaloo!!!!!