House of Memories [Closed]

"H-hard?" Liseran asked, confused.

Valen repeated it again as he started walking away. Liseran's eyes glowered.

"Will you PLEASE speak in a way I can actually understand?"

But Valen was already telling her to go home as he was heading into the woods.

Valen would feel Liseran grip Valen's cloak.

"Oh no you don't!" Liseran said.

If Valen turned, he'd notice her blue eyes glaring at him.

"I want to help too, and we'll do more by actually helping each other out! Even if you ARE unbearable, I think we can cover more ground. Now will you PLEASE tell me what you saw?"

"...."

Valen stared blankly at Liseran as she restlessly tried to pry at him before sighing and pulling out the fabric.

"This belonged to the cabbage seller," Valen stated. "I also saw clawmarks on his cart."

He looked off and stared absently as where the footprints stopped.

"But this doesn't match the attack patterns," Valen stated. "It's not nightfall yet, and the carter wasn't particularly far away from company."

Liseran's huffy expression would subside as Valen explained to her what was going on. She pinched her chin.

"That is strange, indeed," she murmured. "It could be a beast of some sort if it was claw marks. That said, we can't have the person go missing for too long or who knows what will happen. With that said..."

Liseran pulled out one of the bells from her belt and tapped it lightly. A soft chime would sound and several marks would glow as they formed a small pulsing diamond of light.

"I can probably track down if it's Cantic activity..." she said.

The light in the middle of the diamond pulsed brightly in front of Valen, but Liseran would touch the diamond so it's pulse weakened.

"Now that I've tweaked it away from you, let's see..."

The pulse started to grow stronger again as it pointed towards deeper in the forest.

"I'm definitely picking up something..." she murmured. "So I guess we're heading deeper in."

Liseran would start walking up ahead.

"So what do you make of all the info you have so far?" she asked.

Valen stared blankly at Liseran but followed along.

"Fable insists it's not vampires," he stated. "Outside of that, there's not much to go on. But if it is cantus activity, then that's a matter of its own."

Liseran nodded.

"I see..." she murmured. "I agree that vampires don't exist. I-it wouldn't make any logical sense knowing how magic works. B-besides..."

Liseran looked around warily as her hands stayed focus on her diamond.

"Th-they'd be really scary if they did exist. They're something I can do without thank you very much. N-not that I wouldn't be able to defeat them! I'm more than capable of defending myself and-and--hauuu! Don't be mean to me!"

The last line was odd considering Valen hadn't even said anything.

Red-faced, Liseran stared straight ahead again.

"I don't like the idea of vampires," she said, quietly. "Th-that's all..."

Out of nowhere, Liseran's diamond started to pulse even stronger as they headed straight. There was little light in the forests, but the little sun spots leaking from the canopy showed a clearing up ahead.

"Hang on..." she said. "Something might be there."

As they drew closer, the two would see a silhouette emerge from the bushes. It seemed to belong to a human, or at least, it did at first.

The body was crooked and the skin of the figure was grey. Claws seemed to jut out from the its fingers and toes and its attire which consisted of a blouse and a trousers were practically torn and barely clinging on. It had knelt down and was scratching itself, almost like a dog, and paid no mind to them.

Liseran stiffened and looked at Valen. Without saying anything, she jerked her head for them to move behind a tree. She dispersed the diamond and reached for her bell and was motioning to go first. If Valen didn't stop her, she was going to try and get closer.

Valen put a hand on Liseran's shoulder and shook his head. He knelt low and for a second, he'd vanish, only to appear behind a tree that was closer. In the span of a breath, he'd vanish again and appear closer in silence.

Shadow step was a magic that let him move silently and quickly in linear directions. He usually used it in battle, but it's good for moving from shadow to shadow as well.

Liseran refrained from yelping when Valen up and vanished, but kept her bell on hand. Meanwhile, Valen would be able to take a closer look at the figure. The person was extremely pale, grayish even, in complexion. The sleeves of its arms had been torn off and parts of its shirt were bloodied, but dried, suggesting they had been that way for a long time.

Liseran and Valen would hear more footsteps, but it hadn't come from either of them. Instead, the monster would stand up, heading northwards only for a chain with a spearhead to shoot forward and wrap around the creature.


"Hiiiissssss!"

The monster cried out. Both of them would notice a the man from earlier start coming forward as the creature tried to resist the chains that had wrapped around its arms. It got up, yanking on them.

"Oh, no you don't," the man said. He yanked at the chain one more, dragging the creature closer, but the creature growled and, out of nowhere, tugged back so strong that it sent the man hurling towards the tree. As the chains loosened, it would run after the man, but just before Liseran darted forward with two stiletto daggers, glyphs forming in front of her as she increased her force.

"NO!" she shouted as she pushed the creature back.

The creature would hold its stance, dragging its feet against the ground but be pushed a few feet back. The man meanwhile pulled a crossbow aiming to shoot. Turning to him, Liseran got in front of the monster.

"Wait! Don't kill him!" Liseran shouted.

"Get out of the way, lady!" the man shouted.

The creature had recovered from the push meantime and was now attempting to claw Liseran from behind.

Green chains suddenly appeared and snaked around the creature as if possessing their own life. Even if it struggled, the chains only became stronger and tighter in reaction to its cantus energy. Valen suddenly descended from above, landing his boot on its back, trying to kick it and pin it down.

"You're too damn reckless!" he yelled at Liseran.

The creature would try to pull away from Valen's chains, hissing and growling, but would find that it could not break free the same way.

Liseran stared, stunned, before the man behind her grabbed her by the shoulder firmly and yanked her back.

"You idiot! You ruined my shot!" the man growled. "What if I got you instead, huh?"

Liseran glared in return, shoving the man back and clutching her fists.

"I'm not about to let anyone hurt another human being!" Liseran said sharply.

The man's eyes narrowed before gesturing at the creature.

"That is no human being, you fool!" he said. "It's undead! Isn't it obvious this thing is no more a human being than it is a possessed corpse?"

"W-we don't know that!" Liseran said, looking back at the creature and the man nervously.

She moved over to the creature. She pointed at the claws.

"A walking corpse wouldn't have these," she said. She then moved to the head. "Or pointed teeth and fangs. This is a mutation and to say whether or not they're dead is questionable!"

The man pinched his nose and then took in a deep breath.

"What does it matter if they're not dead then?" he scoffed. "It's still dangerous! Best way to find out is kill it and examine it right?"

Liseran's eyes widened in what could only be called horror and disbelief.

"Of course not! We can examine him and try turning him back!"

The man shook his head and raised his crossbow.

"You're delusional, lady, now get out of my line of fire," he said charging his bow.

"Hold on!" Valen commanded, holding up a hand as he pressed down on the creature with his foot. "If you know something about these things then tell us. Otherwise, give us a moment to analyze it while its alive. There may be certain things you can only learned while it's living, or whatever its current state is."