Manifest War: The Weapons Within

“Ladies, this is my guest, Carmen. She will be joining us for lunch today. Please welcome her with open arms.” She said while Carmen bowed her head to the pale skinned females at the table.

“Umm, Homura.. Why did you bring a human down here?” One of the ladies asked with disgusted curiosity. Carmen looked at the woman, taking notice of her petite figure and tall stature, appearing fairly lanky in her green colored gown.

“Well, Verali, she isn’t just a “Human”, this girl has a Dark affinity. She’s one of us, so I expect you all to treat her with respect!” Homura’s expression shifted from kind to irritated in an instant and the three ladies immediately bowed their heads again, apologizing to Homura for their rude behavior. Carmen and Homura took a seat at the table and the Boundless women introduced themselves to their new guest.

“Hello Carmen, my name is Verali. Happy to make your acquaintance.” Verali had boyishly short, black hair and definitely looked like she had been missing a few meals with how skinny she was.

“My name is Brayana, nice to meet you!” Brayana had long dark green hair and her face was fairly small and young looking. She had a very loud, squeaky voice and for whatever reason, the woman was teeming with energy as though she was ready to run a marathon.

“And I’m Kirei. I apologize for my friend’s prior rude behavior.” Kirei had a small horn above her forehead, medium length dark blue hair that almost touched her shoulders, and she wore glasses. She had a very calm and subtle disposition, as though she didn’t want to be noticed. Kirei talked in a very proper manner and was overall the most respectful of the bunch.

“Ah, Hello! It’s nice to meet you all as well. I hope we can get along.” Carmen replied with a smile, trying her best to not offend any of these women. They accepted her greeting and began to converse about various topics.

“Homura dear, how much longer must we live on the surface? I’ve missed this place for sooooo long.” Verali asked with a tired expression.

“Not for much longer. Lord Briddle told me that we will hit 10,000 citizens by tomorrow sometime. Once we hit that, we’ll begin to make the transition.” Homura replied with a smile, happy to break the news to her peers. The three all collectively cheered in their own way and were beside themselves with excitement. Brayana looked over to her left at Homura’s belly and reached out, placing her hand on it.

“And how much longer til this little one is ready? You look like you’re about to burst.” She asked with a loud and playful laugh.

“Very soon, I think in another month or less. Lord Briddle is so excited too.” Homura also rubbed her belly gently, feeling thrilled that she would be seeing her child soon.

“Gah! Lord Briddle is doing such an amazing job with everything. Our people are thriving because of his decisions and our future couldn’t look any better. He deserves to be excited and I wish you two nothing but the best!!” Brayana exploded with happiness as she sent her gratitude towards Briddle and Homura.

“Yes, I must say that I’m impressed by our progress so far. I knew we made the right decision to follow his lead. I can only imagine how far behind our people would be if that woman were still in charge. Good riddance...” Kirei chimed in with a rather cold reply, not thinking fondly of past memories she had.

“You guys had another leader?” Carmen asked while taking a bite of food, trying to be a part of this conversation. The table grew silent as all three of the ladies glared at Carmen, as though she had asked something absolutely ridiculous.

“Ahem... Yes, we did. However, we don’t speak of them. She was a disgrace to our race and did nothing but keep us down…” Homura replied with a sharp voice, breaking the awkward silence.

“Ah… I see... S-Sorry I asked.” Carmen stopped talking and slowly started eating again, hoping that they would move on to the next topic.

“Anywaaaaaays, I decided to volunteer at the daycare center yesterday. All the children were just so cuuuute! I didn’t realize just how many kids we’ve revived so far.” Verali said, trying to change the subject. The group discussed Verali’s daycare adventures and then the topic shifted again, but this time towards Carmen.

“So Carmen dear, got any boys you like?” Brayana asked with a playful chuckle. Carmen coughed and choked on some food, startled by the random question. She collected herself before reluctantly replying.

“Uh, no not really. I haven’t really found anyone like that yet.” Homura snickered at the response and shook her head.

“Oh please, that’s not true and you know it. I think she has her eyes set on that human boy down in the dungeon. She mentions him just about every time we chat.” Homura playfully said, teasing Carmen with light laughter.

“What!? I do not!” Carmen’s face went beet red as she blushed from embarrassment and she didn’t know of a way to reply.

“Yup, you definitely do! Well, once we move down here, just make him your slave. You can do whatever you want with him then since he’ll be your property.” Brayana replied with a hearty laugh.

Carmen sat there looking down at her food, face as red as an apple. Kirei, Verali, and Homura all joined in on the laughs and gave Carmen their full support, urging her to make a move. Carmen embarrassingly nodded as she took another bite of her food.

Once the laughter died down, they all talked about various things going on within the Boundless city and stuff they looked forward to once they moved back to the Core Depths. Carmen sat there in silence and soaked in as much information as possible. However, as she listened, Carmen began to notice that this moment felt incredibly familiar.

These four Boundless women were talking about fairly ordinary stuff. Conversing about jobs, love interests, money, family members, and other normal things. It reminded Carmen of all the times she and her four sisters got together, talking about regular everyday stuff.

Even though the Boundless had entered into this world via unconventional methods, they were still just normal people with regular problems. Nothing felt weird at all when being around them, if anything, Carmen felt nostalgic in this setting. They laughed at jokes and showed real emotion towards serious issues, the same as Humans and Siestians did.

“These people genuinely don’t seem bad at all. Why can’t we just live together and coexist?” She wondered to herself, now deep in thought as she listened to their conversations.

“Carmen... Carmen!!” Carmen came back to her senses and she looked over to see Homura standing up, calling her name.

“You alright there? Been calling your name forever.” Homura quipped with a playful smile.

“Ah yeah, sorry. I was just lost in thought.” Carmen began to get up from the table, setting down her napkin and fork.

“Well don’t get lost too much. Come on, let’s head back.” Homura urged Carmen to follow as Verali, Brayana, and Kirei all looked and smiled at her.

“Yeah, come on, let’s go!” Brayana grabbed Carmen’s hand and she rushed up the path, following closely behind the others. Carmen glanced up and saw the four Boundless females, causing her to feel a bit sad.

Once they crossed through the portal and said their goodbyes to each other, Carmen and Homura walked back to her room. Once they reached the door, Homura noticed that Carmen didn't seem to be in good spirits.

“What’s wrong child? Are you unwell?” She asked with great concern.

“Ah no, it’s just... That meeting has me missing my sisters quite a bit... Tomorrow is Azhane’s birthday too and we usually would all get together to have gatherings similar to the lunch we just had. Sucks that I’ll miss it, but... Oh well, I guess.” Carmen replied with a fairly somber attitude, clearly upset that she wouldn't get to celebrate her sister’s birthday.

Homura looked at Carmen with sad eyes and she suddenly reached back behind her neck, unfastening a necklace. She removed it and then wrapped it around Carmen’s, fastening it together and straightening it out.

“Here, take this. I also had a sister and we would do everything together, so much so that we even ended up getting matching pendants. I definitely know how it feels to miss a sibling. I know that it isn’t much and it isn’t a replacement for the real thing, but maybe it can be enough to remind you of those you lost and that they are always with you.” She said with a soft and calming voice.

Carmen examined the pendant with curious eyes. It was fairly small, silver, and was fashioned into the shape of a crescent moon. You could tell that there was an opposite and separate piece to it by its refined inner edge.

“Homura... I couldn’t take something like this from you. It’s way too precious!” Carmen replied, not wanting to accept such a thoughtful gift. Homura shook her head as she smiled.

“No, I insist. You hold on to it. Besides, I’m sure my sister will get revived pretty soon. It’s only a matter of time and we can just make new ones. So please, keep it.” Carmen stared at the pendant again and suddenly felt a hand petting her head.

She glanced up and noticed Homura giving another warm smile. Carmen felt incredibly at ease and at this very moment, all of her doubts and worries about The Boundless had ceased. She now felt fully ready to move forward in her new life.

She completely trusted Homura and without a second thought, Carmen leaned in before giving her a hug. Homura was absolutely shocked by this and she gently patted Carmen on the back, hugging her warmly.

“Thanks Homura, I’ll always keep this pendant close.” Homura accepted the thanks and their embrace ended. Carmen went inside of her room and after saying their goodbyes, Homura shut and locked the door. Before she walked away, Homura leaned up against the wall while touching her chest. Her heart was beating a mile a minute from that sudden exchange of affection.

“Well that was unexpected. I might need to pull the kindness back a bit, at least for my sake.” She nervously thought to herself, not wanting to get too attached to this human girl. Homura sighed and collected herself before walking down the hall, smiling from a job well done.

As the fourteenth day winded down, Zalthia and Asiah continued to make the journey across their nation in record time. They had been searching all around to try and find anything related to Carmen’s disappearance and whereabouts. Even though Vera had a slight lock on her scent, the location wasn’t entirely precise. It was like trying to find a needle in a country wide haystack.

Vera leaped in the sky with gentle precision, each step feeling lighter than the last. As they stretched further into Olun territory, Zalthia spotted some smoke billowing up in the distance and glints of fire on the ground below.

“Look! Do you see that over there?” She yelled out to Asiah so she could hear her through the sound of rushing wind. Asiah looked over and noticed the fires as well, firmly nodding her head in response.

“Let’s go there! That fire looks serious, people might need some help.” Asiah tapped on Vera’s shoulder, directing her to land where they saw the smoke. Vera roared loudly as she made her descent towards the ground. The group landed and the sight they saw was absolutely heartbreaking.

A whole town was on fire and destroyed, with several homes looking to have been broken into. The scene was eerily quiet as the blaze endlessly raged on, signaling that there was no one left alive.

“This fire seems fairly recent. Probably no more than an hour or so.” Zalthia stated, covering her face with the sleeve of her red robes, blocking the searing heat.

“Yeah, this definitely just happened. What could have possibly caused this much destruction?” Asiah asked with a highly concerned expression. Zalthia shrugged as she walked along the edge of the town, trying to get a closer look without entering the flames. Asiah and Vera followed closely behind, searching around for clues as well. After a few moments, something caught the corner of Asiah’s eye.

“Hey look, what is tha-.” She paused as the look of absolute horror took over her face, not believing what she was seeing.

Upon further inspection, it was a stack of gray and shriveled up bodies lit on fire. Some of the bodies even resembled that of children, being short and small in stature. The husks of skin and bones made popping sounds as they were being heated up by the open flames.

“J-Just.. Just what is this???” Asiah questioned while covering her mouth, holding back vomit. Zalthia stepped forward and took a closer look, examining the bodies from a safe distance.

“Looks like this was a Boundless attack, judging by the holes on all of these victims chests… This is the first time I’ve seen them burn their bodies though. Seems like they’re trying to cover their tracks now. Crafty little bastards...” Zalthia got down on one knee and quickly said a small prayer, paying her respects to the lives that were lost in this tragic event.

“We should go. There’s nothing else to see here. I'm sure the Olun forces will arrive and assess the situation soon.” She calmly said to Asiah as she got to her feet.

“Uh, yes. As you wish, Lady Zalthia.” Asiah snapped out of her stupor and quickly followed Zalthia back to the open field next to the burning town. As they approached their landing spot, Vera’s ears perked up as she deeply growled at the nearby treeline.

“What is it, Vera?” Asiah asked while scanning the wooded area in front of them as well. Suddenly, a small dagger flew at them from the trees. Zalthia quickly blocked it with her scythe, knocking it to the ground as she shot an annoyed glare in its direction.

The trees were still for a brief moment until a large dark blue bear jumped out towards them. Its visceral roar bellowed and shook the ground as it charged at them with intense vigor.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a short woman with pale skin and blue colored pigtails jumped on top of the bear’s back. She rode it towards the group as she held a sharp dagger in her hand. Zalthia and Asiah's search was about to be put on hold as they dealt with this new and terrifying foe.