House of Memories [Closed]

Valen's bolt hit the creature square in the knee and it buckled down. It was about to grasp from the bolt when a glyph emerged underneath it that shone silver. A clear sound from Liseran's bell emerged, and as it rang the creature's eyes widened in horror.

It tried to scramble up but before it could, a swishing sound came from the distance. A black wrapped around its entire body with silver hooks serving as weights.

"Sorry I'm late to the party."

If Valen looked, Travis was there holding a tubular contraption where the net appeared to have come from. Groaning he moved over to them.

"I would have been here but SOMEONE tried to knock me out cold."

Valen would see Liseran's eyebrow twitching as the hunter said this.

"That and I had to bring my equipment of course. But what do I need to do?"

"You already did it," Liseran said before raising her bell to her face.

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Okay...concentrate. Remember the marks. Remember the feeling.

***

"No! YOU CAN'T TAKE IT FROM ME! YOU CAN'T!"

Liseran struggled against the white lights that had wrapped around her wrists and ankles, levitating her into the air. A circle of men and women in blue and silver coats surrounded her. One man came in front of her raising a paper talisman and tossing it in front of her.

"Papa...! Papa, please no! I just wanted to see Mama!"

The paper talisman flickered for just a moment, but soon the room began to darken and a wide circle with multiple marks and symbols formed below her. She heard the softest of words.

"...i'm sorry..."

And then it happened.

The bell in Liseran's right hand shook but she quickly calmed herself.

She would never forget that pain.

Nor would she those marks.

Liseran's eyes opened and Valen and Travis would witness a bright white circle form. From her sleeve, Liseran pulled a paper talisman and tossed it towards the monster as it began to levitate.

"NO! NO! DON'T TAKE IT FROM ME! RELEASE ME AT ONCE!!" the creature screamed.

Liseran looked at it gravely, but there was no coldness in her eyes.


"Using Cantus comes from the heart," Liseran said. "It's a witch's whole life. Their soul. Their identity."

The creature writhed desperately but both the net and the glyph held them firmly. The wind began to pick up and a dome would form separating Liseran and the creature from Valen and Travis. Dust stirred and the fog began to clear letting the moon shine on them.

"But you've let your Cantus fill with hatred and the desire to harm."

The creature screamed. Liseran's eyes softened. If Valen looked, he'd notice she looked sad, almost torn.

"I get it," she said. "It was hard. You made choices to keep yourself alive. But this wasn't how you were supposed to do it!"

Liseran rang her bell again. The air within the dome stilled as hundreds of marks filled it and glowed all around. The creature stared frantically.

"The chapter of your Cantus ends here."

Liseran rang the bell once more and the creature stiffened as something began to exit its body. Valen would notice writhing red marks with spots of black coming from the creature's center and into the talisman making it blood red.

"'I Shall not Want'," Liseran said as if reading. "How ironic...anyways..."

Liseran rang the bell yet another time. This time the white marks around the dome gathered into one bright arrow. Liseran looked at the  creature empathetically.

"I'm sorry."

The arrow pierced the talisman. The ground began to shake as the dome flickered. The talisman spurred with red electric bolts before a light flashed.

Once Valen and Travis could see, the dome was gone. Liseran swayed in place before dropping to her knees. Meanwhile the creature shook on the ground.

"No....no!"

The voice this time was no longer raspy or hoarse. It was that of a woman.

The two would look and see a pale girl with black skin, thin and gaunt but otherwise normal looking. Her eyes were a clear green. They streamed with tears.

"My...my Cantus...NO!!!!"

Liseran massaged her forehead.

"Valen...Travis...let's go. Bring her. She's not safe with the officer on her trail."

Travis was merely staring, stunned. He cleared his throat.

"Right...uh...I'll pick the girl up."

Meanwhile, Liseran slowly got up as well and was trying to maintain her balance.

Liseran would suddenly feel something solid on her right and a something on her waist. If she looked, Valen was standing there, his gaze off to the side, holding her up with the bare-minimum.

"You did the right thing," he said, not looking directly at her. "But it's fine to feel a little guilty about it. That's what makes you a better person."

Valen wouldn't hear Liseran say anything, but he'd feel her nod as he helped her up. Meanwhile, Travis picked up the girl. She stiffened at first, trying to shy away, but Travis gently grabbed her with one arm and carried her at the waist, not unlike when he was hoisting Liseran earlier.

"Alright. Let's go," Travis said. "We still have those turned people to worry about as well. And I'm sure your aunt might be expecting you."

Liseran bobbed her head again as Valen would feel her leave his hide.

"We still have to interrogate her," Liseran said. She glanced at the woman but she was trembling and just staring into empty space. Speechless. Liseran expected as much. She was honestly surprised the woman hadn't outright gone insane from the process.

As the three were about to leave, they would hear a whirring sound and then a click.

"[b]DON'T. MOVE."

Liseran froze.

If the three of them turned around, the boy officer was there. He had a pale yellow glyph on his abdomen where a large red stain had formed and he had a silver revolver pointing a the three of them. His face was drawn out and he was panting heavily. A line of red had traced down his mouth. Liseran quickly shielded Valen again, her eyes glaring.

"It's over, Klaus," she said firmly. "Put that down. You're hurt. If you do, then I can heal--"

He staggered forward.

"Give. Me. The creature."

The boy coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. Liseran's eyes widened and she tried to rush towards him. He pointed the gun again.

"Stay back!" he said. "You're lucky...master isn't here. Or he'd have dealt with it on the spot. Now...give me the creature!"

Liseran stood there, hesitating. She then clenched her fists.

"No," she said.

The boy looked at her in disbelief.

"You...you can't say no to me!" he said. "That thing! It killed them! It killed all of them! It needs to perish!!"

The gun pointed at Liseran shakily. But she didn't move.

"You know you can't shoot me," she said stoically. "And even if you did, the Cantus is gone. You have to arrest her like everyone else and send her to jail. Isn't that what you Expiate officers do?"

The boy gritted his teeth, growling. He pointed the gun at Liseran, the trigger close to his finger. He then coughed, and buckled to the ground.

"No...I won't...I WON'T LET YOU JUST--Agh!"

The boy pulled out his Cartic stone and would notice its light flickering.

"How...how am I running out so fast?"

A small stone bounced on the ground and in front of him. It was a ghost quartz of a small size, a penny's worth perhaps.

"Heal yourself," Liseran said as she was turning. '"As for us, we're going."

The boy winced on the ground. He tried raising his gun, but he was too tired. Liseran walked away from him, glancing at both Valen and Travis.

"Let's go," she said stiffly.

With that, the girl would move forward, her ponytail swishing back and forth as she did. Behind her, she'd hear sobbing.

"Dammit...DAMMIT!!"

And after the sobbing...faint laughter. If Valen looked, the boy was holding his head as he chuckled, his eyes still in disbelief.

"This...this isn't over!" he said. "You think you can save everyone, but you can't! And mark my words, I WILL have my revenge on that...that beast!"

Liseran paused for a moment. Her eyes closed.

"I don't think I can save everyone..." she murmured. Her head lowered. "Because I've already failed to so many times...I'm only doing what I can."

She turned slightly, but not enough to face the boy.

"And I'm saving you the burden of becoming a monster yourself."

With that, she carried on and the boy just watched them, not moving, his hand still on his wound as what was so close to him started slipping away. As the three disappeared, the boy would let out an angry scream.

***

By the time they reached the forest, Travis glanced at Liseran.

"Geez, you could've spared him the salt on the wound, right?" he said.

Liseran frowned.

"He needed to hear it," she said. "And speaking of wounds..."

Liseran turned to Valen. Her stoic expression was gone, and replaced with a pout. She pointed at him.

"You're still hurt, idiot. Sit down for a moment so I can heal you."

"You're quite the femme fatale, aren't ya?" Valen remarked, sighing. "I've met mother bears less cruel. Anyway..."

Valen opened an eye, glancing at their captive. "She hasn't exactly calmed down since she reverted. We can't let her go at this rate-"

Valen stepped back when Liseran scolded him for being injured. He averted his gaze to the side and grimaced.

"We can't afford to slow down until we get to the cabin," Valen insisted. "Granted, my life was in much worse danger than I expected tonight, but I'll be fine. Let's go before more bad luck comes our way."

Valen would see Liseran tense at the remark, but she ultimately ignored the comment.

"I suppose you're right. We're not too far from the cabin anyways," she said. "Atonement has its tolls. We need to help her recover..."

Travis shifted the weight of the girl, but as he looked, the girl's eyes were closed.

"Well, she seems knocked out now," he said. "Should we be worried about that?"

Liseran shook her head.

"Being tired's normal," she said. "Better than her turning hysteric."

***

The three would reach the cabin, but the moment they did, Liseran froze with a look of horror on her face.

"Well, it's about TIME."

The three would notice Claudia leaning against the door of the hut. On her back was a sleeping Remi resting on her shoulder with her arms dangling. Travis let out a nervous grunt.

"Oh shit..." he whispered to the two. "Can I leave? Please tell me I can leave."

"No you can't leave!" Liseran whispered.

"ENOUGH!"

The woman would shout as she stomped on the ground. The three would feel the ground shake. Her eyes glared.

"Liseran, you have a LOT of explaining to do," she said.

Liseran looked at Claudia and then at Valen. Without warning, she rushed behind Valen's back, clutching his arms. Looked like Liseran couldn't handle all battles.

Valen glanced back at Liseran then let out a tired sigh.

"Sorry sorry, I'm the one you should be mad at," Valen stated, raising a hand. "In the end I decided that we needed Liseran around afterall and helped sneak her out. I even had Fable stay behind to protect Remi."

Valen glanced around.

"For that matter, where is he?"

Just then, the shadows shifted under Claudia's feet and a black sillouette surfed across the ground and gathered in a pool under Valen's feet.

"Aaah, I was so bored," Fable groaned. "Oy, how did you get so banged up anyway? Geez, I thought you were more cautious than that. You know you can't use most of your magic without me around."

"It wasn't so difficult," Valen muttered dismissively, looking off to the side. "I'm just surprised you agreed to stay behind."

"Hmph."

"Mmm...I knew you were nice, Fable," Remi murmured in her sleep as she nestled against Claudia's neck.

Fable's remark also made Liseran leave Valen's back. She stared at him angrily.

"You were trying to handle things without being able to use magic and STILL not let me go?" she said to him. "Just how reckless are--AHH!"

"So you did sneak out of your own accord!" Claudia shouted grabbing Liseran by the ear. Liseran yelped, one eye closed as the other one stared at Claudia nervously.

"I had to!" Liseran said. "Besides, look! We were able to stop the culprit AND spare her life!"

"She's right you know," Travis said speaking up. When Claudia glanced in his direction, he stiffened, but quickly tried to keep his composure. He cleared his throat. "The brat ended up doing more good than I thought. Without whatever bell magic she was doing, we probably wouldn't have been able to catch this person over here."

Claudia let go of Liseran's ear which the latter rubbed tenderly, pouting all the while. Claudia sighed.

"This...is all a little too much to handle standing up. Can we head inside and discuss this properly?"

Travis nodded.

"Yes," he said. "And...I guess we should see how those creatures are faring. Being tied up must not make them happy."

***

The group would head into Travis' cabin, which hadn't changed much from earlier. There was still a gaping hole in the floor where Liseran had shot ice from. As Travis disappeared down a basement door, Remi slept on the bed and Liseran and Valen gave a rundown of what happened in the square. Claudia looked unsettled.

"So Klaus was there," Claudia said. "And he saw you."

Liseran nodded slowly. One of her hands tucked her hair behind her ear while the other focused on healing Valen's wounds. Valen would gradually feel the cuts close up and his energy restored.

"I was careless," she said quietly. "I know. I was trying to save the servant and I just..."

Claudia raised a hand.

"It's fine. We'll deal with that later," she said. She then turned to Valen. "You mentioned that the girl's Cantus was what mutated the farmers. If we're going by that logic, do you think there's a way to reverse them?"

"Hm hmmm, so there was a young witchhunter there who happened to be connected to this whole scenario who swore vengeance and..."

Fable had been quietly listening along ever since they got inside the cabin. He had taken the silhouette shape of Travis and one of his chairs and has been scribbling in the little book. Then he threw his hands up and grabbed his head in dismay.

"Ahahaha! What kind of comedy is this?? Dammit, why did you leave me behind??"

"It was just a rough theory but.." Valen stated, ignoring Fable's groaning, "if that is how it works, if we can somehow extract the cantus, it might reverse the transformation."

Claudia merely arched an eyebrow at Fable. Liseran, however, perked up at Valen's words.

"If that's the case, I can try to use expiation again," she said. "I'm out of charges though so I'll have to replenish my energy first."

Travis was coming up the stairs of the basement now carrying the unconscious girl in a bridal carry. Cartic marks bound her ankles and wrists tight.

"Well if you all need a place to stay, you're free to use the cabin," he said. "The farmers are still tied up and under a sedating potion. We should be safe but I can keep watch for the rest of the night. I take it going back to your fancy place is unsafe what with the boy right?"

Claudia nodded.

"We can't risk it, yeah," she said. "Though all our stuff is abandoned there so I'll have to fetch them."

Liseran stood up.

"I can help if--"

"No," Claudia said firmly. "You've caused enough trouble today, young lady."

Liseran winced at the words. Claudia sighed and then aced a hand on her shoulder.

"Besides you said you're out of charges. Stay with Remi,: she said a little more gently. "She doesn't show it, but she doesn't like you leaving her alone."

Liseran nodded slowly. Travis cleared his throat. As he laid the girl down on a mat with a pillow, he spoke.

"Well, I can go with you if you want. The boy's still recovering and you'll need help carrying everything."

Claudia crossed her arms.

"I thought you wanted to watch over the monsters and the girl?"

Travis looked at Fable and then the two young adults.

"I think they can manage," he said. "Besides the sedating potion won't wear off for an hour. Plus..."

Travis furrowed his eyebrows.

"I wanted to talk about Taltal."

Claudia's eyebrows raised further. She sighed and looked away.

"Well okay," she said. She then pointed at Liseran and Valen. "You better stay put this time got it?"

With that the two would go, leaving Liseran, Valen, Fable, and a sleeping Remi alone.

Liseran sighed. She looked at Valen for a moment, puffed her cheeks, and quickly left his side to go over to some books.

When Travis and Claudia left, there would would just be silence between the two of them for some time. When Liseran huffily left, Valen gave her a cursory but turned and tinkered with his own devices silently.

Some minutes would pass without either of them making a peep, then Liseran would hear Valen's voice behind her.

"Look.. I'm sorry for trying to leave you out."

Liseran would feel his hand on her shoulder, rubbing it apologetically.

"But I knew that something like this would require some hard decisions... a moment of hesitation could be extremely dangerous. I didn't want anything to happen to you... You're very important..."

"At least... to me..."

Liseran would feel Valen leaning over and his hand touching her chin, gently turning her head to face....

A black silhouette in Valen's shape.

"Was that what you were hoping for? Little maiden~?" Fable asked mockingly.

"Oy. What are you two mumbling about over there?" Valen called out from the opposite side of the room.