Now, back into the open air, the party sighed. Emma loudly groaned as she clutched the sore wound on her shoulder. "Fuckin' fresh air!" She pushed forward, sifting through the golden rains that surrounded the mineshaft, the rest of her cohort following behind.
Dahlia carried the girl they found on her back, who clung tightly in response, still dead-eyed.
"Uh... from what I remember, the path goes up into a dry forest south, and once we reach the park. From there, we order a ride and go the fuck home." Emma chuckled.
With a stride, Dahlia caught up with Emma, walking side by side with her and Rider. "Well... we have to bring the girl to the school, report the incident, and such."
"Oh, shit, yeah."
"It's the safest route."
"Safe indeed." A beat. "And fuckin' exhausting."
Dahlia nodded solemnly, recalling all that had happened in the past few hours. "I... killed... quite a bit... huh? Feels different when it's by your own hand... huh? Saw that one Goblin walk off, head pop open and all, and that didn't nearly affect me as much as... y'know?" Dahlia's breath shook. "I... I... t-took... I-I know that they deserved it, but for some reason I can feel my stomach churning..." A weak chuckle left Dahlia's lips.
Emma glanced at Dahlia as they walked. "I concur... but... we have to get used to it, no? Surely it won't be the last time that we have to take a person's life."
"I don't want to do that... I don't want to have to do that. Killing the undead, or... I dunno, that's a whole thing entirely compared to this, Emma."
"Dahlia..."
"I... I don't want to be the monster that my family made me out to be... If anything, I'd prefer to be... kind-- I don't want to have to kill! Why is that the only option!?"
"Dahlia..."
She blinked, looking at Emma. "S-Sorry... I-I'm... T-These last few weeks... I..." Tears streamed down the girl's face, but she tightened her jaw and pressed on, crying as she walked.
Emma couldn't help but be at a loss for words as she watched her friend steel themselves for the future in real time. Her eyes flicker for a moment before focusing on what was in front of her.
After a few minutes of walking, they found themselves surrounded by forestry, dead trees scattered about, and dry grass hugging a gravel path, the bits of stone popping beneath their feet. Emma let out a sigh, looking back at Meliana, who tried shortly behind. "You good?" No response. "Meli?"
Meliana met Emma's gaze. "What?"
"Are you alright? You've been quiet."
Meliana blinked. "I'm... conflicted. I'll be alright. I'm just glad that we got something out of this at the very least."
"What do you mean?"
Meliana pointed to the girl on Dahlia's back. "We have our lead. It's something... It's progress."
"Wo-Wouldn't exactly call a person 'progress', but I get what you mean."
"Yet... no sign of Tymera... where... where did she go?"
"Tymera? Is that who we're lookin' for?"
"Yes... uh... I suppose it slipped my mind." She hurried over to Emma. "She's tall, not as tall as Dahlia here, but she's tall. She has demonic ancestry. Real outcast, a huge weirdo to boot. Her skin is the color of bronze, and she loves fighting."
"And she was here? Doesn't exactly sound like the pinnacle of investigatory progress."
"She's the heroic type. Very righteous despite her harsher demeanor. She only found the lead because of me, and now she's missing."
A hush came over the party, and once again, they found themselves walking alone, in silence; only the sounds of wind flowing across the surrounding fields could be heard. Dahlia immersed herself in the feeling, letting the wind blow through her, an audible and long sigh escaping her lips. "That feels good..."
"You like the wind?" Emma questioned, catching up with Dahlia.
"Definitely. If it weren't for us being next to the ocean, I would've gone to an opposing Academy, y'know?"
"Really?"
"I'm not native to Agnesta, I could've gone anywhere else but Mars if I chose to."
Emma looked out ot the wind blowing through the beige grass surrounding them. "Yeah... living near the sea is pretty damn nice, isn't it?"
"What about you, Emma?"
"Hm?"
"Are you native?"
"Born in the capital, I was raised in Mars, though."
"Makes sense, you don't seem to be a person who gets out much, no offense."
"None taken. You're right... I didn't go out much. Honestly, this has been the most I've been away from home in... well... my entire eighteen years of life."
"I'm the complete opposite then." Dahlia chuckled. "I was nomadic."
"Where were you born?" Emma paused. "Specifically in Berlajia?"
"I wasn't born in Berlajia, actually. I was born in Podigia Mu'ise. Not too far off from Berlajia in the slightest, but there is a difference. I was born in the mountains there."
"Oh~?"
"I don't remember a lot from my early life aside from... y'know... stuff people would say about my mixed heritage. After that, I became nomadic and eventually landed on Mars."
"Well... I hope you find the company here to be better than... y'know."
"Oh, definitely! You guys are fun to be around! Though... it isn't like the discrimination is gone completely, but it's better!"
"I think those guys are dumbasses, everyone who dislikes you for what you are."
Dahlia's eyes widen a little. "That's uh... wow, I didn't expect to hear you say something like that." Dahlia chuckled. "I didn't really mean anything by that, by the way, I'm just... surprised, that's just something I haven't heard yet, I suppose."
"Dahlia, you're one of the sweetest people I've ever met, y'know that? That... that perception of you-- the perception one can have over a person before even gettin' to know them," Emma shook her head. "I can never understand that. Just because of the inherent traits you were born with." Emma licked her lips. "Look, you do look a bit scary at first, y'know?"
Dahlia's expression stiffened a little, a twitching smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"But that... that isn't what makes a person, a person! You're so much more than that intimidating ass glare in your eye!"
"What is with the back-handed compliments?"
Emma chuckled. "I don't care about it! Meli doesn't! In fact, I think it would be nice to see your face more, though there is a bit of charm with the bangs, right?"
"I-I suppose?"
"Look, what I'm tryin' to say is... ignore the fuckers givin' ya a hard time, okay!? They don't know what the hell they're saying!"
"W-What about... what about the men I killed?"
"They were evil bastards! Who cares about them anyhow!? You did the right thing, makin' sure they couldn't hurt anybody else, ever again! Y'hear me!? We did well! Even if it was a bit too brutal at times!" Emma sighed. "We did a good thing..." A beat before she fully turned toward Dahlia. "Say it with me. We did a good thing!"
"H-Huh? You want me to say it... or...?"
"Yell it! Say it! We did a good thing!"
Dahlia blinked before breaking out into laughter. "Yeah... we did a good thing!"
"We did a good thing!"
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!" Both of them started hopping in excitement.
Meliana spoke up, stopping their little parade. "Dahlia, the girl."
Dahlia stopped. "O-Oh... sorry." The black-haired girl, on her back, blinked, clearly disoriented by the extreme movement.
Meliana smiled. "We did well!" She threw a fist into the air, and all of them mimicked her in response, Emma's construct even joining in on the fun, though, with no voice, all they could do was raise their fist.
As they continued walking, Dahlia looked over at Emma, a smile still spread across her lips. "Emma... thank you... for saying all of that."
Emma scoffed. "It's uh... not a problem. I just... y'know..."
"No, truly. Thank you. It made me feel better. I didn't expect you to go so far, honestly, you didn't seem to be the type."
"W-Well, I can do it when I mean it, y'know? Anyone can... I think? They should be able to."
"Well... I didn't mean that. I meant... you don't... You aren't really someone who cares about other people much, are you?"
"Huh!? I care about people all the time!"
"Yeah, more to perpetuate your own life, no? You... you think you're too weak to handle anything on your own, so you work to keep the people around you alive. It's not a bad thing, by the way, I'm just saying, am I wrong?"
"I care about my Uncle, I'd take a bullet for that man!"
"Would you take a bullet for Hero?"
"Fuck, no!" Emma cackled, her laughing quickly dying out, a smile on her face. "I would take a bullet for you, though."
Dahlia was shocked by Emma's sudden confession, skipping a little as she almost stopped her walk entirely. After a second, she ran over to Emma, catching up to her.
"See? I care about people!"
Dahlia remained silent for another moment before stuffing her nose into the collar of her sweater.
Meliana raised her hand. "What about me, though?"
"We do not know each other like that." Emma chuckled, "I'd definitely try to save you if you were hurt, though. Clears my conscience for a better sleep."
"And if I did die?"
Emma pursed her lips, knitting her brow in thought. "It would be sorta depressing, but I'd move on?"
Meliana chuckled. "You're so honest."
"I only lie if it's to save my own ass!"
"You're also a very complicated person, aren't you, Emma?"
"Isn't everyone!?" Emma scoffed.
Someone is spotted in their path, a bronze-skinned man with short black hair and ruby-colored eyes. Emma noted their physical features before going their separate ways, proceeding as usual, when they were interrupted by that same man. "Hey! I have a question for you guys!"
The party stopped and turned over to look at the man. Meliana spoke up first, "What do you need?"
He crossed over to Meliana and her cohort. "Hi, I'm lost. Are you all adventurers?"
The party looked at each other, then nodded. Emma pointed at herself. "Yeah, we are, why?"
"Just curious-- you guys are carryin' a bunch of gear, weapons, and stuff. A bit concerning, but I figured my assumption was just. No bandit dresses like teens in a High School Drama after all."
Emma chuckled. "Yeah, fair. Uh... so where are ya tryin' to go?"
"I'm looking for some friends of mine! Actually, you guys look pretty banged up. Where'd you guys come from, a quest?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah, we did. It was a hard one."
He looked down the path from where Emma's party came from. He pointed, "Was it over there?"
"Yeah?"
"Okay, cool. Yeah, I was going down this path to go look at the sights and stuff-- first time in Mars, y'know? I wanted to take some photos of their infamous wheat fields! Heard that over there was the best spot-- heard it was a mine of sorts over there, too."
"Oh yeah, it's chaos. I'd recommend not going there today."
"Yeah, but... breaking a few rules never hurt anyone, no?"
"H-"
"Actually, some of my friends happen to be some Boglyathropes that reside in the area, surprisingly enough. Said that there were some wicked sick sights for me to see-- Set up on the hill here, probably got an amazing view of the entire city. But I also heard that there were some... delinquency-based issues surrounding that as well-- knowing my friends, they probably got a bit too closely involved with some bad folk, don't you think?"
Alarm bells were going off, and the party went on alert.
"From what I recall as well... it became a big enough issue that quests were being posted to clear out the mines, no?" He paused. "Was that the job you were on?"
Meliana spoke up. "What's it to you, gringo?"
His eyes glanced at the girl on Dahlia's back. Emma, sensing the mood, lets out a frustrated sigh. "Hey, sorry man, but, yeah, the mines are that way, down the path. We're in a rush, so we gotta go."
"Y'know, those friends of mine--" He continued. "They owed me something... a certain special someone who seemed to have been of an exceptionally rare race. Amber-eyed, black hair... freckled face."
"I'm sorry, man. We really can't stick around, and you're holdin' us up." The party began walking again, attempting to get as far away from this man as they could.
"I... really, don't like people fucking up my plans, y'know?"
A hand is placed onto Emma's shoulder, and the entire party freezes.
"Don't piss me off, alright? Hand over the girl."
Emma looked at her own party for a response, all of them readying themselves for combat. Emma spun on the balls of her feet to face the man. Dahlia set the girl down, switching to her shield. Meliana jumped away, pistol leveled at the man's head.
Combat Begins!
"Idiots." The man's jaw tightened, and in a split second, his strike flicked outwards, cracking like a whip against Emma's body, the sheer speed of the attack degloving a chunk of her arm, raised reflexively in response. In that same moment, his off-hand shot out, just as Rider rushed to protect his master.
In his hand, in the next second, as Rider was thrown onto the ground, a mechanical arm. Emma's eyes widen in shock, her body locking in place as that same arm is dropped onto the ground, and just like before, like a whip, sliced straight into the side of Emma's neck, just barely missing her vitals.
"Emma!" Dahlia cried out, the poor girl forced to clutch the gushing wound on her neck.
Only a second has passed.
"Y'know..." The man spoke with a newfound gravel in his voice, not seen before this moment. "I typically wouldn't pull this shit out in the open like this, but... man... I'm thoroughly pissed, y'know!?"
Emma held her neck for a moment, but in one swift motion, her palm met to support the rifle in her grasp, proceeding to fall onto the ground behind her and fire into a man with a strength she's never seen before. The first shot missed, prompting a smug grin to be plastered across his face, and then the second shot rang out.
Straight through the carotid artery, just like she did to that Elven man back at the catacombs. Blood fired out from the freshly created wound, the man's expression contorting in rage before a smile slowly crept across his face.
Emma lay in shock... this man isn't some normal mortal, no one could survive a hit like that, yet he's standing, a smile on his face. "Not enough, girlie."
Shots fired out onto his back, all hitting him, but doing no damage at all, only eliciting a cackle from the failed attempt. Meliana was just as shocked as Emma, learning that her attacks were completely ineffective against this... this monster.
In swift succession, following Meliana's failed attempt to kill this man, Dahlia came in next, swinging wildly into their body, a radiant energy coming off of her, and the source, the girl she put down, a hand up with a single golden string connecting them.
The man stepped back, the axe clipping their arm. "Oh?" Before following up with multiple deflects, pushing away Dahlia's onslaught. "Guess I'll focus on you, you look like you'll get annoying!"
A strike flew out at Dahlia, slamming straight against her shield, dealing no damage whatsoever to the giant woman. The man reeled his arm back once more, hitting it straight into the shield this time, creating a dent across the hem of the metal, and just as he reached his final strike, Dahlia stepped back, his fist missing in its entirety.
Pop! The bullet hit the man's back, and once again, no damage, but this time, the shot came from Emma. "H-How!?" She exclaimed. Emma, gasping for air, blinked. "A-Are you a fuckin' Vampire!?"
The man smiled wickedly at the girl. "How'd you know!?"
Two hits slam straight into the Vampire's body, coming straight from Rider. Still, they remained unfazed, yawning even to mock the party, his gesture interrupted by a shot to the forehead, head whipping to the side, more blood pouring across his body, but the next two shots, hitting his body once again, did nothing. Meliana's hands shook, smoke still billowing out from the barrel of her pistol.
"Consano." The girl spoke, palm facing the ground, and in a thirty-foot radius, everyone was healed, all except for the Vampire amongst their midst, skin burning from the effect.
The undead man screamed out in pain before looking at the malnourished girl, a palpable rage entering his bloodstream. "So... you can cast spe--"
Interrupted, Dahlia slammed her axe into him, frothing at the mouth to make sure this Vampiric man was put in the dirt by the end of this, both strikes being stiff enough to leave flesh hanging off from his body, a chunk of his torso peeled open to reveal the inner workings of his body.
His body naturally worked to put itself back together, groaning. "Oi... what the hell...? Where'd that come from, huh!?" His fist shot out, connecting with the shield, denting it significantly, the impact reverberating across it and into Dahlia's body, causing her to stagger in response before rotating his hand in place and grabbing said shield. In that instant, Dahlia was thrown, chucked a good twenty or so feet away from her party.
Dahlia was in the air for a moment, the entire world around her floating before slamming straight into the ground, eliciting a cry from the large woman, sliding a few meters before coming to a rest.
A long sigh escaped the Vampire's mouth, moving to grab the young aquatic girl from the party's grasp. "Get the fuck away from her!" Emma screamed, rifle leveled at the man's head.
He cocked a brow, smirking. "And what? What will you do?"
Pop! The bullet was caught in between his fingertips, and his smile grew.
"And...? Was that it?" Smack! Rider's fist was driven into the man's face. He chuckled, "Again, was that it!?"
Meliana unloaded a magazine from her pistol, quickly loading in a new one before rapidly firing at the Vampire, all who remained, left struggling as best as they could to take this man down, even if there were no results in turn. Still, any effort, anything —maybe it'd delay the inevitable long enough for something, anything to happen!
But that didn't come... instead, something better occured. Meliana's gaze narrowed, and in that moment, instead of fear, she felt resolute, as if the magic pouring from the girl they were escorting had filled her heart with a newfound determination. Two shots, straight in the head, and instead of meeting only the skull, it dug into the monster's brain.
His head was thrown back, and for a moment, he stumbled, gasping, attempting to force words out from his mouth as his brow began to sweat. Soon enough, his eyes began to roll into the back of his skull, his face cringing visibly from the damage he had taken. His body became locked, and in that moment, he fell face-first into the ground, dead.
Meliana's eyes were wide, shocked at what she had just done. Emma looked just as surprised, but then let it all go, the tension being released from her body in an instant, still feeling the now-healed wound on her neck.
Dahlia watched from afar, and instead of holding herself tall, her arms fell limp, throwing the shield over her back and the axe into her waistband.
The party was exhausted.
But, in return for that exhaustion, there was a successful mission.