WARNING!
There is a possible triggering part later on for the sake of the story but please, if you do not want to see it, stop when you see (Y/N) coughing out something later on.
There are no depictions of self-harm but just putting this out there in case.
~ * ~
"Hey, beasty! Over here!" Grim called to the faceless monster.
The faceless monster growled at that, "LEAVE!!"
The creature yelped at the sight of the beast quickly running towards them. "It's coming!"
"Come this way!" (Y/N) attracted its attention next.
The beast turned its head at the (h/c) girl's direction next. "Girl. . here. . too. . but won't give. . still mine. . mine!"
It diverted its attention to the girl next and ran as its lantern's handle was now hanging by its arm. As it did before, it stretched its free hand and tried to grab the girl but was evaded once again.
"What does that thing want from you?!" the monster screeched.
"I don't know, but just get it as far from the tunnel as possible!" The (h/c) girl instructed as she along with the creature bolted towards the mine's interior with both Ace and Deuce waiting.
"Go away! Go away!!" The beast chased after them, contradicting what it wished for as the girl thought.
"It's kinda far from the tunnel now!" Grim pointed out as the magicless being nodded and turned to Ace.
"Now!"
"Okay, I got this! Let's go, Extra Large Tempest!" The ginger-haired male nodded as he cast a strong gust of wind towards the faceless monster.
"And the Great Grim's Fire Special! Fungaahh!" Grim followed, casting his blue fire next.
The duo magic of the magicians' caused the flames to circle around the beast with the wind, swirling as it roared from the impact.
"Look at that! I can even fan Grim's shoddy flame to an inferno!"
"it's not shoddy! Ugh, every word that comes out of your mouth pisses me off!"
"Now's our chance!" The magicless being exclaimed as she gave Deuce a nod, signalling him its his turn with a look of assurance on her features.
This gave him a boost of confidence.
Taking a deep breath, he smiled at her and muttered to himself, magical pen tightly gripped in hand.
"Calm down. . . take aim. . . the biggest and heaviest thing. . I know. . ." He waved the pen before he loudly called out.
"Come forth, cauldron!"
As he said that, like before, a cauldron dropped from above and fell on the beast, burying it underneath.
"Got it! Nice work, everybody!" The monster cheered before pointing under the cauldron. "Hey, look! That monster looks as flat as a pancake like Ace did from earlier!"
"You don't need to bring that up again! Geez, today's just really not my day." The red-eyed male grumbled.
"Let's go get that magic crystal while that thing isn't moving!" The blue-haired male told the three as they all left for the said object, ignoring the calls to halt in their tracks from behind.
"There! A magic crystal!" Deuce pointed at a crystal glowing in different colors.
"HANDS OFF!!" The faceless monster howled, slowly beginning to get back on its feet and pushing away the large pots.
"Crap! That thing is almost free!" Ace exclaimed and looked at the rest with a panicked expression.
"Hold on! We almost have it!" (Y/N) said, tossing out rocks and dull gemstones, all that were blocking the magic crystal alongside Grim.
"Oi, Deuce! Throw some more stuff on it!" The said monster told the fellow magician.
"Eeeh, something heavy?!" The blue-eyed male trails off, pressured as he cast his magic once again.
"C-come forth! Cauldron! And, ummm, ummm, cauldron?! One more, cauldron!"
It was a repeated tactic but then again, at least the beast was getting hindered by the falling cauldrons.
"Do you seriously have nothing but cauldrons in your repertoire?!" The ginger-haired male commented.
"Shut up! I'm at my wits' end here!"
"It's fine, you did great!" The (h/c) girl assured as the creature cast his flames and victoriously called out.
"We got the magic crystal! Let's skeddadle!"
"Roger!" Ace copied as the four made a run for it, the (e/c) girl stuffing the magic crystal in her pocket
"That. . is. . . MIIIIIINNNEE!!!" The beast roared, all the thrown cauldrons at it now out of its way as another chase happened once again.
"You're kidding! It knocked off all that stuff, and now it's coming after us!" Ace exclaimed, quickening his pace, the faceless monster groans echoing.
"Give. . it back. . !!"
"Shoot, it's gonna catch up to us!" Deuce gripped the magical pen in hand tighter with his teeth gritted.
"But it's weaker! Now we might--!!" The girl panted as they all came to a stop.
The red-eyed male groaned in displeasure. "Fine! Let us finish this! Don't let me down, Mister Serious!"
"You too!" The blue-eyed male retorted.
"I'll show off my true power!" the monster declared.
"If I can't. . get the stone. . then. . ." The beast started as it turned to the non-magic user.
"THE GIRL WILL STAY HERE!"
"Stay away from my henchman!" The creature glared and cast his flames along with the two students that did the same with their own magic.
The faceless monster howled from the throws of the three. Although it was weakened, the same was also for the magicians from using quite a lot of magic.
"Even with magic hitting its head, the weak spot of it, it's still going." She muttered, while looking at her surroundings once again.
Everything in here is either too small or too big and heavy for me to carry to break its large, glass head.
It was just the same trees, bridge, cottage, and river. Really, nothing changed with the eerie scenery. The place fairly spooked her that it etched itself into her mind more than it should and--
Wait a minute. . if the beast. . . She hesitated at her train of thought. It was a risky idea, a gamble even.
That is, if she could reduce it even just a little while ensuring its success. . .
The pickaxe is a bit bigger than me, but it shouldn't be too difficult to carry.
I just have to play my cards right. She thought, finally making her decision as she took out the stone Kalim gave from her pocket.
One of the many colors of the magic stone, green in particular, had a similar shade to the jewel that was given to her. It also looked similar in terms of their shine.
I'm so sorry for using it like this.
"Keep going a bit longer! Aim for its limbs and head, just don't hit me with your magic!" She hollered and while the beast was focused on the attacks, she then threw the magic stone at Deuce (who caught it) as she ran towards the faceless monster .
"(Y/N)! What are you doing?!" Ace yelled at the non-magic user who only told him to follow as said.
When the beast caught a glimpse of her, she held up the other jewel, sure to not fully show its entirety.
"If you manage to get me, you'll also be able to have your precious stone back." She tested before putting it back in her pocket.
"Girl. . . with. . . stone. . too. . ." It snarled as again, it tried to grab her with its free large hand.
Quickly stepping back, she avoided its stretched out palm and pushed the lantern hanging around its arm as the object collided against its hand.
From the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something similar peaking out of one its pockets, similar to what the two students had.
A stained magical pen.
If it has a magical pen, why didn't it use magic? She thought but decided to take a hold of it just in case.
Grabbing the hem of its clothing, (Y/N) pulled on the fabric and strongly hauled on it, quickly snatching its magical pen as well.
This caused the faceless monster to lose its balance as it threw the pickaxe in the air, landing on the cold, hard ground. The girl, on the other hand, had caught the object before it met the same fate as the beast.
With a sudden grunt in pain, she then turned to see her left palm, wounded and her blood seeping out of it.
The sharp point must have cut her skin when she caught it.
By the time she transferred it to her right hand along with stabling her hold on it, the beast was beginning to rise back on its feet.
Clicking her tongue, she ran and kept a safe distance from it as she instructed.
At least it'll be weak enough for later. But. . she then trailed off in thought, seeing the beast not making an effort to attack like it was supposed to.
Why isn't it trying anything?
It could be a trap, a scheme the monster without a face was trying to pull. Standing as if it surrendered, rather, looking as if it did not fight a battle, only for it to strike back later on.
Then, to the girl, why did it seem as if the beast was truly at peace?
Maybe, but I can't let my guard down. She shook off and commanded.
"All of you! Cast your magic at the same time when I throw this!"
"How can you even carry that thing?!" Grim screeched.
"Now!" The (h/c) girl ignored, giving the signal.
As she threw the pickaxe that was bigger than her, a combination of the magicians' magic followed, all of the attacks hitting it in sync as its head shattered, the shards falling on the ground.
As soon as it happened, all traces of it began fading to black dust.
"Did you notice?" The (e/c) girl asked the other three who stared at her in confusion.
"Noticed what?" Deuce asked.
"It didn't try anything when I already had the pickaxe earlier."
"That's true, it's weird." Ace furrowed his brows until Deuce worriedly points out.
"(Y/N)! Your hand!"
"When did you get hurt?!" The other male asked but was unanswered, the non-magic user's attention on her wound.
"I have to stop the bleeding first and Deuce, I know that you took care of the spot you were hit ealier, but check again in case." The magicless girl said as she took out a clean, white cloth out of her pocket with her other hand.
I really have to thank my mom for teaching me about a few of these things.
"Seriously, this hurts!" She hissed through her gritted teeth as she applied pressure on her wound with the material.
When the bleeding finally came to a stop, she let out a sigh of relief.
Rather, she was about to.
Suddenly hunching forward, she put a hand over her mouth in haste as harsh, repeated coughs escaped her lips.
This caused the blue-eyed male to quickly make his way towards (Y/N) as the rest of the group went to do the same. Deuce patted her back in an attempt to soothe her while Ace and Grim paid attention for any possible instructions.
The (h/c) girl continued to repeatedly cough into her palm. Something so sweet yet metallic was flooding her sense of taste as she felt liquid seep through her lips and land on her hand.
The girl's eyes widened at the sight of her own blood on her palm with Ace, Deuce, and Grim mirroring the shocked expression on her face as the liquid dripped from her lips.
The droplets of blood, however, were not crimson.
They were a dark shade of black.
"Hey, you never told me you were sick!" Grim stared at the human with a look of concern on his features.
"No, I'm actually healthy! Why is my. . ." The (h/c) girl trails off, confused and scared as she saw the black puddle of blood turn into a dark stone.
"What just happened?!" The ginger's eyes widened in shock at the transformation.
What the. . what's going on?! Why did I cough out my own blood? Why was it black? Why was it a stone by the time I was done? She questioned before she had turned to her hands.
Her blood-stained hands.
Stiffening, she quickly grabbed another handkerchief in her pocket and hastily wiped her hand on it for her to be cleansed from it. In addition, she wiped her lips beforehand as well.
Filthy, filthy, filthy! She repeated, rubbing her hand at the clothing furiously.
It was horrid, disgusting, and unclean.
Filthy.
"Hey, (Y/N)," Deuce softly called out to her.
When the girl wiped the blood off her palm, she went to turn her head to the blue-haired male, fiddling with her hand in an anxious manner.
"It's okay, you'll wash your hands by the time all of us come back." The blue-eyed male assured her and got the monster's magical pen from earlier.
As much as (Y/N) despised how she was seen in her state of such vulnerability, she was thankful with him being considerate.
"Thank you," she said.
As she looked at the crystal on the magical pen held, she took a breath and observed it.
It was pitch black earlier, but it became clearer now.
"In any case, let's go back to the academy." Deuce says, concerned for the (e/c) girl as she nodded.
Grim, on the other hand, remained on his spot, glued to it as he lingered, strangely drawn to the stone and its scent as he then walked towards it.
Although he was worried for the human himself, still, he could not hold back his curiosity about the dark rock.
He sniffed the object in front of him. "This thing smells really good."
"No way!" The red-eyed male exclaimed in disbelief.
"This has got to be candy that (Y/N) coughed out! I can't hold it back! Time to dig in!" Grim, with without a hesitation, caved into his hunger.
"Don't just eat things from the ground, spit that out!" (Y/N) told the monster who gasped.
"Hey, you alright?!" The blue-haired male worryingly asked.
"There's already an injured girl here. We don't need a monster who's feeling sick because of eating some weird rock from the ground." The ginger sighed, also reminding everyone of the state the girl was in.
"D. . d-d-d-d. . ." Grim began to stutter.
"What's wrong?" (Y/N) asks him, alarmed as she told herself to be calmer this time.
"DELICIOUS!"
"What?!" Ace and Grim chorused as the non-magic blinked at the monster.
"It tastes like metal, probably because of blood, but it's full-bodied and rich with an aromatic sweetness that blooms in my mouth! It's kinda like a whole field of flowers in my mouth!"
The red-eyed male gagged. "What's your taste?"
"I guess so but more than that, most people would not even put a mystery object in their mouth with no thought at all." Deuce shook his head.
The (e/c) girl sighed as she looked back at her injury and motioned for Grim to climb up her shoulder. "As long as you're okay, for now, let's go back to school."
The creature laughed and settled himself as told, or rather, motioned. "Don't worry! My stomach is not as weak as yours!"
"Don't come crawling to me when you get sick later." Ace rolled his eyes while Deuce fussed over the girl once again as she assured him that she was fine.
Still, just what on earth was the crystal filled with?