Manifest War: The Weapons Within

Night had fallen on yet another unsuccessful day of searching for Zalthia and Asiah. They landed down into a clearing in the forest, just outside of Olun territory, to rest. As Vera gently trotted forward, they hopped off of her back and immediately set up camp.

“This feels almost impossible, Lady Zalthia. I fear that Vera has lost Carmen’s scent…” Asiah remarked as she got a warm fire going. Zalthia didn’t immediately respond, she instead stared up at the moon while sighing loudly.

“We’ll find her. We just have to…” She finally added, now taking a seat to rest her tired legs.

“If only she had just stayed put. Damn it, what is with the young Miss? Where did that curious & reckless behavior even come from?” Asiah asked with justified frustration, taking a seat on the opposite side of Zalthia.

“Pfft, she’s always been like this. Even when I left to go on my awakening journey many years ago, she tried to sneak out and come with me. If it wasn’t for Tiaran noticing her exiting the garden, the estate would've been in an absolute uproar.” Zalthia slightly rolled her eyes at the memory, feeling annoyed that Carmen would do something so stupid as a literal child.

“Since our parents never let her leave the castle, curiosity really tormented that girl. So many times she wanted to go out and do stuff, but father would always tell her no. It was honestly quite strange.” She added as she stoked the fire, causing red cinders to playfully dance in the air.

“Yeah, it was strange indeed. King Allen was usually always so receptive to you all’s requests, hearing him say no was quite rare. I had wondered if there were some kind of issue between the King and Carmen, but I never questioned it. Hell, even Queen Janelle seemed rather indifferent about her as well, or at least that’s how it looked internally.” Asiah replied, watching the fire intently as it warmed her thoroughly.

“Well, whatever their reasoning was, we’ll never know…” Zalthia’s voice turned incredibly soft as she spoke these words, clearly feeling down from mentioning her deceased parents. Asiah noticed this rare lapse of composure from Zalthia, causing her to refrain from giving a reply.

“Let’s get some rest. We’ll start the search again first thing in the morning. Maybe we get lucky and find something that leads us to her.” Zalthia said as she leaned back on a nearby tree, closing her eyes gently.

“Right. Good night.” Asiah adjusted herself and laid her head down on the cold ground, sighing softly as she fell asleep, hoping their search would end soon.

A sticky and musty draft breezed through the dungeons as Rivell gripped the cell bars tightly, turning his head in both directions to look around. While he hoped someone would come down and help, no such thing occurred.

“Will you sit down already? You standing next to the door won’t make our situation any better.” Caleb said with an annoyed cadence, clearly irritated by their current circumstances. Rivell reluctantly let go of the bars and stepped back, sucking his teeth as he kicked the dusty ground.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Sarah sitting in the fetal position, occupying her corner silently. She hadn’t spoken a single word since her run in with Briddle and this continued to worry Rivell.

“How long must they keep us down here!? It’s been over a week at this point! If they’re going to kill us why don’t they just get it over with!?” Rivell yelled, now reaching the limits of his boredom and stress. Before Caleb could reply, they surprisingly heard a soft, yet unfamiliar voice from behind.

“Kill you? Now why would we do that?” Said the voice with a velvety smooth cadence. Rivell quickly turned around to see Homura accompanied by Karris and a few guards. Her fiery red hair contrasted brightly against the lantern she held, showing them the most color they had seen in ages.

“It’s you! Where did you take Carmen!?” Rivell barked as Caleb swiftly got to his feet, now facing their captors directly. Homura gave a charming smile as she slightly chuckled, feeling greatly amused by their worry and concern.

“Don’t worry, Carmen’s perfectly fine. She’s being well taken care of. I just wanted to check in on her dear friends.” She said with a continued smile, showing not an ounce of malice towards her prisoners.

“You expect us to believe you just like that!? If she’s fine, then show her to us!” Caleb remarked, his expression filled with angst and worry. The dungeons went eerily quiet as they awaited her response.

“You’re still alive aren’t you? That should be proof enough that Carmen is fine…” Even though Homura’s face showed immense levels of kindness, her reply was absolutely haunting in both tone and meaning. Rivell gulped as beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. He felt incredibly uneasy by this woman’s presence and her smile did nothing but creep him out.

“Now that that’s over, who all is hungry? I bet the food down here has been quite unfavorable. Here, take these.” Homura stepped to the side and allowed the guards to walk up to the cell. They undid the locks and walked in with plates full of delicious foods. Steaks, potatoes, buttered rolls, chickatrice skewers, and various vegetables from all over. The food looked incredible in comparison to the slop they had been fed the past few days.

“But… But why?” Rivell asked with a confused expression, hesitant to accept what was being given them.

“Because, you’re friends of Carmen and I find it quite unfortunate that we’ve treated you all so poorly. I hope this meal can be the start of a fresh start and new friendship. Please, dig in!” Homura clapped her hands together as she gave yet another motherly smile, so incredibly kind.

Caleb and Rivell glanced at each other before reluctantly taking the trays from the guards. They stepped back as the guards exited the cell, locking the door behind them. Caleb placed the tray down onto the ground and approached the rusted bars.

“If you’re not going to kill us, how long do you plan on keeping us down here? Surely Carmen wouldn’t be happy with us being locked away forever.” He asked, applying as much logic to his words as possible.

“Ah, you must be Caleb, right? I can see why she has such an attraction to you.” Homura extended her hand towards the cell and gently caressed his chin through the bars, still wearing her smile. Caleb allowed it for all of two seconds before snatching his face away and stepping back, feeling incredibly uncomfortable by her actions. Homura chuckled at his charming innocence before adding her thoughts to the situation.

“Hang tight, cuties. I’m having your rooms arranged as we speak. You all won’t be down here for much longer, this I promise. Now please, enjoy your meals and I’ll be back to check in on you.” Her voice was so alluring at this point that it was impossible to not believe her words.

Homura glanced over at Sarah as she looked up and once their eyes met, Homura gave another warm, reassuring smile. Shivers went down Sarah’s spine as Homura’s lips continued to curl, feeling nothing but unease from the silent exchange.

Rivell watched as Homura and her group left the dungeons, their footsteps getting further and further away. He sighed before shifting his focus towards the trays of food, now growing incredibly hungry.

“You think it’s safe to eat?” He asked as his stomach growled something fierce.

“I guess so. If she wanted to kill us, giving us bad food would be the dumbest way to go about it.” Caleb replied as he slowly picked up his fork. They stared at the meal for a few seconds before going in to take a bite.

To their surprise, it was delicious and entirely edible. Caleb and Rivell scarfed down the food like savages, not caring one bit about the mess they were creating. Sarah remained quiet as they ate and refrained from eating, still feeling tormented by her previous experience.

As Homura, Karris, and the guards exited the dungeons, Karris turned his gaze towards Briddle's Mistress.

“Lady Homura. Are you sure it’s a good idea to let them out of their cells? Have you run the idea by Lord Briddle?” He asked with a cautious, yet curious cadence.

“Let them out of their cells? Pfft, don’t make me laugh. Relocating them would be the biggest waste of time.” She replied with a dark tone, taking out a handkerchief and vigorously wiping the hand she touched Caleb with. Homura then glanced over her shoulder at Karris, noticing that he was quite confused by her prior actions down in the dungeons.

“Karris, did you know that a simple boost in morale can help ensure a desire to survive? I can’t have them wither away just yet. I just needed to inject a little bit of hope into them, that’s all.” She added with another smile, only this one was much more dark and twisted.

“You’d be surprised how easily people will fold at the slightest hint of kindness. Surely you used the same tactic with Priscilla, correct?” She continued her walk through the halls as Karris followed closely, making their way quietly to the Boundless throne room.

“Ah, sure…” Karris stared silently through the darkness of his hood as he mulled over her question.

30 Miles east from the Boundless City, another bout of subjugation was occurring in a decently sized town of 200 Olun citizens. The Boundless soldiers and Priscilla’s shadow army were laying waste to everything in sight, overwhelming the town with innumerable forces. As much as they tried to fight back, no amount of skill could save them from such visceral terror.

“Lord Briddle, we should have this establishment under our control within the hour.” Trion said with a deep bow. As they stood atop a hill looking down into the town, Briddle’s lips curled slowly while he admired the burning houses before his hungry eyes.

“Good, good. A few more of these and we’ll hit our quota. How is Moku fairing at the other location?” Briddle shifted his gaze towards Trion and patiently awaited an answer, eager to hear whatever update he had to give.

“They just arrived there not too long ago. Shouldn’t take him no more than twenty minutes to clean up there.” Trion replied with a matter of fact tone. As soon as he finished his report, Briddle began to snicker ever so lightly. This snicker, however, quickly turned into a full-on belly laugh.

“This is just too damn easy! Either I’m the luckiest being in Alaira or the current world is filled with weak roaches. Hell, it might be both!” Briddle laughed heartily for a few more moments before finally collecting himself. Trion stood by silently as he awaited his next orders.

“Back in our era, I had to tiptoe around and proceed with caution so often. Any one of those top ranking Humans or Siestians could’ve matched me. It was such a difficult challenge to make the progress we made, however we prevailed despite the many roadblocks. But now? The Humans and Siestians are so woefully unprepared and pathetic, it absolutely boggles my mind. Just what happened during our absence?” Briddle questioned as he continued to gaze upon the blazing buildings off in the distance.

“Peace has seemed to weaken their resolve, rotting their sense of urgency.” Trion responded as loud screams echoed towards them. Briddle slowly gripped his hands together behind his back and shot an icy glare at an open window, staring at a family of four getting their Strands forcibly removed. His white robes swayed in the chilling breeze as he contemplated a thought.

“Peace you say? Hmm, then it seems we’re doing Alaira a great favor. We’ll crush this so-called peace underneath our feet and force this world to strengthen itself. Those that are complacent don’t deserve power from the Core of Alaira…” Trion stared at his leader with great admiration as he heard this reply, feeling empowered by his words.

“You’re absolutely correct, Lord Briddle! I expected nothing less from our tremendous and fearless leader!” He remarked with a child-like screech, feeling incredibly blessed to be in the presence of Briddle.

“Hmph, of course I’m correct. Now stop gawking at me like a desperate street walker and let's help our men finish up here. We’ve little time to waste.” Briddle began his descent down the hill, heading towards the organized chaos below.

“Ah, right! As you wish, m’lord!” Trion quickly followed after him and they assisted the soldiers in their terrifying conquest.

The following afternoon came quickly as Carmen paced back and forth in her room. She was eagerly awaiting Homura’s arrival because today was going to be very different from the previous days. As she nervously chewed her fingernail in anticipation, Carmen heard the lock on her door unlatch.

“Ah Carmen, are you ready to go?” Homura said as she poked her head inside of the room, giving a warm smile in the process.

“Oh! Yeah, I’m ready! But uhhh, what about this chain?” Carmen asked as she looked down at the long silver chain snaking its way across the room.

Homura stepped through the entryway and approached Carmen. She simply held her palm up and aimed it at the shackles around Carmen’s ankle. Her hand glowed a dull black color as the shackle began to react, responding with a similar glowing hue of black. Within moments the chain separated itself from the shackle, leaving behind a silver band around her ankle.

“There you go. Your abilities and Manifest are still blocked, but at least you’ll be able to move about a little more freely. I trust that you won’t do anything stupid.” Homura said with another kind smile.

“Of course! I’ll be on my best behavior!” Carmen’s face lit up like a child in a toy store, feeling very appreciative of the gesture. She was not about to mess up a chance to get some much needed fresh air.

“Let’s go!” Homura quickly took hold of Carmen’s hand and pulled her along, rushing out of the room and down the long winding steps. Carmen, for the first time since her capture, was outside of her lavish prison cell. She tried to look around and take in as much information as she could, but their rapid pace through the hallway made it difficult.

While they ran towards the first floor, Homura giggled and smiled as she continued to grip Carmen’s hand tightly. Homura’s flowing red hair swayed playfully around her horns and her lavender scented perfume filled the air, providing Carmen with a large sense of nostalgia.

This situation reminded her of the many shenanigans she and her sisters would get up to at Castle de Belouis. She couldn’t help but let her guard down and embrace the moment.

Just as Homura’s alluring scent captivated Carmen further, the two found themselves outside of the Boundless palace. The cold, late Fall air was both fresh and inviting as Carmen looked out at the crowded streets in the distance. As she gazed across the streets, Carmen wondered just where Homura was planning to take her.