I turned around.
"From where?" I asked.
"Southeast!" She replied.
"Seems we were right. Peter do me a favor." I put my knife away.
"I'll go handle the incoming monsters and in return protect Mari. Do not let anyone take her away." Peter looked at Mari.
"Very Well." I nodded and rushed out.
"Monsters!" I yelled as I ran past everyone.
They all got up and followed me.
"What's going on?" Skylark went into his adult form.
"It's Oizys, she's coming." I drew my sword.
"What about Mari?" Where is she?" Nolan asked.
"I have the Elder Chief looking after her." I answered.
I followed the Skabelse's presence. I eventually caught sight of a large group of them. In the middle was a girl with the same hair color as Mari, and blue eyes. By her presence I assumed she was Oizys. They all went into a complete stop, and made way for Oizys. She walked through the gap. She was biting her finger nail and had a gloomy look on her face. Her face darkened when she looked at me.
"Audrey your here too?" She scowled.
"Sorry I am not her." I pointed my sword at her.
"Oh that's right mother did say something about who you are. Your Asher right? Mother is right you really look similar." She started playing with her hair.
"Group C you try." 8 Skabelse charge towards us waving their weapons around.
Julie and Skylark took the lead and cut all of them down. Oizys face lit up a bit.
"She pretty good almost like him. You try Group B." 32 more Skabelse took arms.
Nolan cut them down.
"Group A." Aegis and Asurmaru handled them.
There still was over a hundred of them left, including Oizy's. I made a fateball and destroyed half of them. I charged at the rest of them and cut a few of them and forces my way to Oizys. Everyone kept the other Skabelse at bay. Oizys was still biting her nail and in her other hand, she held a pike.
"By the way do you by any chance know where a girl with black hair, red eyes is? Her name is Mari?" I gave no reaction.
She much different than I thought her to be, I thought to myself.
"But I thought I sensed her presence I guess I was just imagining things." Oizys sighed and closed her eyes.
"I wasn't wrong she is here. Asher, mother wants Epiales back so I need Mari back." I tried knocking her off balance but she jumped over me.
I got up and surrounded us with elemental walls. Aegis, Asurmaru, and Skylark were on the top of the wall.
There isn't much space here and she has a pike this is a bad situation. I like this, I pulled out my gun and threw coins into the area.
I fired a bullet into one of the corridors then another into a different corridor. I kept my eyes focused onto Oizys. I appeared on her left, one bullet on the right the other in front of her. She jumped into the air once again. I managed to grab her ankle while dodging both bullets. I closed some of the dark corridors before throwing her into the one I came out of. I punched her in the face as she came out pf the corridor from behind me.
The ground was raised, launching Oizys into the air. Sides of the wall extended horizontally, and crushed her but not completely. They moved back and I used my hook to pull her back down. I then trapped her in a vortex of wind and fire. Oizys broke free and multiple of the same crystal from before.
"Was she spying on us? So she might change her tactics."
I blocked her pike and shot a bullet into her right shoulder. Oizys backed up. Skylark came down and scratched her along her back.
She really isn't fighting back, I thought to myself as I shattered the crystals.
Few of the shattered pieces flew into the air. They started to being filled with anxiety. I managed to make some of them into a fate ball, the rest came at me over and over. When I destroyed one those pieces came at me, so I relied on dodging. Skylark kept Oizys busy with help from Asurmaru and Aegis. I found an opening and took it. I opened a dark corridor under my feet and closed it after I went through. I appeared in front of Oizys and cut her arm off. I moved behind her and touched her back with a fate ball. It exploded and sent her flying to the wall.
The impact lifted the dust into the air.
"Is that it?" Skylark asked.
I changed into a defensive stance.
"I only managed to cut off her right hand but she won't be able to use her pike as efficiently." The pieces that were chasing me fell to the ground.
"If she is as scary as you then her losing one arm is nothing." Skylark said.
"You know that really hurts a lot." Oizys voice came from the dust.
"Asher!" I looked up.
Nolan and Julie were standing next to Aegis and Asurmaru.
"We've handled the monsters well help you." Nolan said I shook my head.
"So in the end they were the same." The dust settled and Oizys had the same look on her face.
"Can you pass me my arm? I kind of need it." She pointed at her arm.
I didn't respond.
"Oh well." She charged at me.
I lunged at her but she slide under me.
I turned around and Oizys had her arm in her mouth.
"Shoot!" A voice yelled in my head.
Another crystal appeared and I pointed my gun at it. Oizys touched the crystal and disappeared.
I pulled the trigger but the crystal shot up before my bullet reached.
"Too late." The voice said before it went quiet.
"Tsk." I put my gun and sword away.
The elemental wall collapsed. Skylark returned to his pup form. I looked up at the sky.
"She escaped." I sighed.
"I'd call it that we drove her off." Skylark said.
"But she didn't put up much of a fight. If she really wanted Mari, you would think she put up more of a fight. Was there another reason of her coming?" I asked myself.
I picked up one of the crystals and inspected it.
"What is that?" Nolan asked.
"A crystal Oizys used. I shattered one previously when I talked with Peter. When I did a certain emotion came out of it." I answered.
"Try putting a fate ball in then." I nodded and created one then did as he said.
The crystal exploded and its shards entered my arms and legs. Blood trickled down onto the floor.
"Well great. I'm now losing blood." I said calmly as I stared at my wounds.
I pulled out my gun and forced my arm to summon Canneta.
"Lie down slowly." She ordered.
I did as she said. Droplets of water flew over my body, then entered the wounds and then came out. The shard pieces came out with the water. Then Canneta closed up the wounds. The clothes began to repair itself and the blood faded away. I thanked Canneta and she disappeared. I got up and patted the dirt off my knees.
"Well let's head back then we'll be heading northwest." I put my gun away.
"Shouldn't we follow Oizys?" Julie pointed at the sky.
"We are probably too late for that now." Aegis sighed.
"I still have a promise to keep anyways." I stretched before walking back as everyone followed me.
Once we reached the mansion Peter and Mari were waiting for us.
"Did you guys see her?" Mari asked.
"Yeah." I answered.
"Did you kill her?" I shook my head.
"Only managed to drive her away." Mari's face darkened and fear welled up inside her.
I went back to Peter's room and helped him plan in case of any other possible attacks.
"So then. Are you planning to head to the church or to go find the queen?" Peter asked after we finished.
"If the queen and prince are with your sons then they should be fine for now." I responded.
"Then whatever is in this church must be pretty important." I nodded.
Peter got up opened a drawer. He took a paper and a pen then sat back down. He started writing and put the paper in an envelope. He gave it to me.
"What's this?" I looked at the envelope.
"When you meet my sons give this to them they should stop attacking you. Although I am more worried about them." I put the envelope in my pouch.
"Only natural to worry for your children." I got up and bowed.
"Thank you Peter." I opened the door.
"Next time bring Keandra with you. The children love her." I tightened my grip on the door handle.
"Keandra...yeah I'll bring her next time." I slowly closed the door behind me and sighed.
"Definitely." I tugged on my scarf.
I met back up with everyone and we went to the northern gate.
"What are we doing here again? This doesn't look like where we are supposed to be." I explained to everyone what me and Peter figured out about the church.
"So it is like the ghost ship." Barbados said in my head. I summoned him.
"Why didn't you say that before?" I asked him.
"I thought you would've preferred to have me wait until we could've told everyone." He responded.
"Okay. I only rarely heard of a ghost ship." I put my gun away.
"Well it's like this church but the ship only appeared at night. Depending on the phase of a moon the ship would appear at that location and won't leave until day break." Barbados added.
"I believe that was in a book I read once. My memory of it is a bit fuzzy." Julie said.
"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Asked Skylark.
"Well nothing other than there being the possibility that there is treasure on the ship." He said.
"Most likely bait to lure others." I said.
"Well then. Let's infiltrate this church at night then." I sighed.
"We should start moving then." Nolan said.
It wasn't too far from Tinter so we walked. As soon as we reached the spot we moved a good distance away. The sun was still high up.
"I'm bored." Asurmaru complained.
She flopped onto the floor and sighed.
"We just got here how can you be bored?" Nolan asked.
Asurmaru responded with a sigh.
"Just let her be. She was always like this with me." I chuckled.
"She hasn't changed." Barbados said.
"She was like this with you too?" I asked.
"But of course." He laughed.
"Ha ha ha, so funny." Asurmaru said.
The ground trembled lightly, getting stronger each second. I grabbed Asurmaru's arm and pulled her away.
"Nolan." A giant worm bursted through the ground, where Asurmaru was lying, and Nolan hacked it to pieces.
I looked at Asurmaru.
"You bored now?" Asurmaru shook her head.
I tightened my glove.
"Let's rest for now then. Someone will have to keep watch though. We can rotate every two hours." I suggested.
"How about we go in pairs then?" Nolan said.
"One of us can't be in a pair and have to stay behind though." Skylark added.
"Then it should be Mari then." Nolan said.
Mari got up.
"Why me?" She exclaimed.
"A larger group would be better to protect you than just you and another." Nolan responded.
"You're the goddess of dreams give them good ones." I whispered to Mari and smiled.
"Fine." Mari sighed and snapped her fingers.
Everyone but me and Mari collapsed to the floor.
"You made the fall asleep didn't you?" I sighed.
"Well you did say give them dreams and I can't do that without them being passed out." She looked at me.
"Now that I think about it..." She shook her head.
"Never mind." I shrugged.
"Anyways can you wake them up?" Mari nodded and snapped her fingers again.
Their eyes slowly began to open.
"What happened?" Julie mumbled.
"Mari knocked all of you out." I answered.
Nolan was the first to wake up completely.
"Can you do that against monsters?" He asked.
"No I can't. The minds of them here are like an endless voids of screaming people." Mari responded.
What about Skabelse's? I asked myself.
Everyone else was finally able to fully wake up.
"So what should the pairs be Nolan? Is that okay with you?" I asked him.
"Okay." Nolan and Aegis went first.
I watched them leave from the top of my branch. I didn't bother trying to sleep. I kept myself busy by flipping a coin over and over. I stopped and closed my eyes when they returned. I pretended to be asleep as the passed below me. They switched out with Skylark and Asurmaru and I watched them leave. The sun was starting to fall.
"It's almost time." I started hearing grunting from below and tree shook lightly.
I looked down and Mari was trying to climb up the tree.
"So you were awake." She said.
"I was asleep but you woke me up." I pulled her up to the branch near mine.
"Liar." She said.
"You got me." I sighed.
"Are you having trouble sleeping?" She asked as she tried to keep her balance.
"I can help out you know." Mari offered.
"It's fine besides they are back now." I grabbed Mari and jumped down.
I woke up Julie and we made our way to the spot where the church was to appear. We were in complete silence for a little bit.
"Phantom huh?" She said, breaking the silence
"Yeah I am and if you could do me a favor to never call me that again." I said.
"Why?" She asked.
"That name no longer exists it should be killed like the rest."