"It's her, it has to be!"
"Are you serious!?"
Both of them starred with awe and wonder – she was not one of the messengers, she was not a decoy, a guard, or even a strategist. She was genuine article. Posing as one of the ones helping the guild track the movement of the decoys and inform other trackers.
I can't believe it. But that badge on her vest. It's the same one from the Rull guild. A high-ranking member at that.
Arduo looked at the picture once more, trying to reaffirm her suspicions. In her hand, was the rough, but simple sketch on a dusty and old piece of paper. It was the drawing of a face, a drawing made in passing, but clearly in deep though, that for the life of her, Gydil could not remember. It was the drawing they took to be the face of the priestess.
She's not smiling, she's not filled with a clear and unfiltered joy of being seen as Gydil remembered, but there is no mistaking it.
Her thoughts were disturbed by Gydil as she spoke.
"what are we going to do?"
What are we going to do…? I mean I do know, but I never thought we would find her, even after almost three decades in my search, two with Gydil – I never thought she would be found within this decade at least.
She slapped her cheeks hard – leaving a pale glow.
Come on – she might get away.
"Listen – that insignia on her vest means she's with the Rull guild. Meaning we have been chasing the leads from the wrong side. She had been working with one of the most established information guilds, probably manipulating information, no wonder none could be gathered. She also supervised and revised her system as she saw fit. All from a clear and simple lens, that allowed her much insight into what needed adapting. It's like taking care of your baby without touching it yourself – clean."
"Are you complimenting her?"
"No –"
Stare ---
"Okay… maybe a little. Anyway, all this means that she has a clear manipulative way to reach it indirectly that does not involve normal channels of communication, or a direct decent of orders. Meaning she is playing multiple roles to make it look like a delegation of duties rather than an in-person review of her own system. So, we have to assume, she has an in ready and waiting escape route…"
"Okay, I'm going to stop you there – I already remember the plans you made; you made me listen to them for a whole two decades, I don't think I'm capable of forgetting them."
"Excuse me, you're the one who asked me what to do!"
"Sorry, I just panicked."
"You know what to do then, so let's go."
Like ghosts, they vanished into the crowd. They had immeasurable clarity of mind. At first, a body collapsed right in front of the priestess. People scattered. And in the split second before any awareness enforced a mass panic, the priestess was paralysed.
Arduo had entered her body. She had never entered the body of the living. She wanted to practice on Gydil – but she was determined to not have her body violated the same way her pin was.
I may not be able to hold your body off for long, but it should keep you busy.
Right then and there, Gydil appeared. Grabbed the priestess and jolted out of the city while her body was pacified. They didn't even make it far before her right hand moved, grabbing onto Gydil's face, blocking her vision.
'I'm a shapeshifter, that's not enough to stop me.'
Her eyes closed. Appearing on her shoulders – she had a sleeveless top on.
I figured something off about your system… Thought Arduo to herself whilst inside the priestess. Since she had not tried this before, she did not know that her thoughts were being transmitted to her target.
'Oh, do tell me, what flaw would that be?'
Arduo was a little shocked, but she adapted quickly.
You're not even going to deny it?
'By the looks of your obvious methodical planning, it seems you've probably put an extremely exhausting amount of effort into all this. So, I'll oblige that I did make a system – but I'm quite curious to hear what flaw you speak of. So, go on – speak.'
Getting smart with me huh?
…
Okay – I'll speak... or is it thinking… you know what never mind. Sure, the system kept you virtually untraceable by any and all means – it's main purpose was to give yourself something to do to not get bored, isn't it?
'Call me impressed – you already know that much about me.'
Don't flatter me just yet. The flaw in your system is that should you ever get caught – the fact that no-one knows who you are, or anything about you means, I could basically capture an important princess in the middle of town. Just as we had. And no-one would bet an eye. Why would your system even protect you when it didn't even know who you are?
'Sound logic. But this doesn't explain how you found me.'
Just as Arduo finished that statement, the plans flashed in her mind for just a second. Barely enough to gleam anything to inform the priestess – but she was just that good. Arduo had not put up any defences against any of this – she had not expected such clear communication between their minds.
'So… that's your plan. I guess I can play along.'
After so easily revealing parts of the plan, she worried. Her fears, though, never came to fruition. Just as the priestess gained back 99% control over her body from Arduo, she stopped. Her limbs went limp. Her arms droopingly fell off Gydil's face. Arduo still had little control over the body, even after the priestess surrendered to the plan.
You didn't give up, did you? Playing games with me perhaps?
'Oh, not at all.'
Eventually they made it far out of the city. The walls were so high that they were still covered by its deep shadow. That's when Arduo got out of the body and Gydil let go of it.
The priestess got upright. Dusting her long open long pants, they were folded inward, to make them shorter – but stylistic. Enough to blend in with the festival.
"Earlier you said, why would the system protect me? You're right. All this cat and mouse is really just a game for me, but make no mistake, I need no protecting."
An unmistakable aura filled the air. They heard her sweet voice aloud for the first time. It felt so pleasing to hear. Their ears felt a kind of satisfaction one could never hope to get within a single lifetime. But even then, it failed to mask the air of malice and strength hidden in the threat she ended with.
"We know that." – answered Gydil.
"Well, that saves me a bit of explaining – run along then."
Right then she gripped her heart, something ached immensely.
"We won't be leaving here without you. Someone we know would like to speak to you. And we know that after a single day passes, we will completely forget about you unless we're looking at you directly. A blessing? Curse? Doesn't matter. You use a very powerful method to erase such details. Enough to affect even the malleable mind of a shapeshifter. So, it makes sense that it takes a full day to set in, and we won't look away."
She winced in pain, managing to force a few lines out of herself.
"I knew you guys had figured quite a lot – but from reading your thoughts earlier… cough… I didn't pick up any such knowledge – you must have protected your mind from me – impressive really…"
She coughed even harder, collapsing to the floor, on her knees.
"What did you do to me?"
"Don't you want to hear the plan – in full this time, not just fragments?"
…
"I'll take that silence as a yes. There were many plans, but the one most suitable for today was this. I knew you wouldn't attack out there; you wouldn't risk revealing your identity to more than just us two. Don't worry, only we know about you. We couldn't as well risk the information reaching you before we did.
Sadly, this also meant that even we couldn't afford to fight you in the middle of the city. This is Wilster Ash city – I don't know what kind of fool would aggravate a whole city filled with elementals. Especially during a festival. They get explosively dangerous, really fast.
Being outside the city did not help much. Especially considering that there's the slight chance of attracting monsters and the fact that you could out power us both. But luckily for me, I had help from something. The same thing that wants to talk to you. Thus, we're out here. You can barely use a skill, right? I didn't believe it either when it gave me."
She lay there cradled, coughing a milky yellow blood laced with inky lines.
Yet she managed to squeeze another question out. "You still didn't answer me. What did you do?"
"I'll be real with you I don't know the specifics either…"
This was a soul weapon the Knight had made for one of its spirit monster vessel led vermin. But after losing against Mugaw it became less applicable. It gave it to her due to the strangeness of Arduo being a soul not neither spirit nor ghost. It was an orb that could be attached to directly to the soul of another. After activation, one feels nothing. By the time they did, it was too late. It had taken root. Using their soul as its primary source of carnage. The soul it was embedded into would temporarily be subjected to an incredible drop in existential energy. The kind that all beings needed extensively.
"You don't know!?" Understandably, no-one wanted something foreign within them. Even worse, not something that even the one that put it there did not understand. So, she was furious.
"Well, I do know it won't kill you. It should make you just weak enough to drag along with us without much resistance."
'I really shouldn't, not yet, not here, not now…' – thought the priestess.
Their commotion did not reach the city, but it did attract a set of monsters.
"Over there!" Pointed Gydil.
"We have to get out of here quick… but she's not finished. If we take her with us, we'll be caught in the wave, and we can't leave her here…"
Gydil took a glance as their guest struggled. Not yet unconscious. At most they had about ten minutes, just by estimating off the speed of the horde. And that was not enough to make it back to the city. They had dragged her far out, to avoid riling up the elementals. That in itself would be a disaster.
"Arduo…"
"Yes…" Although Gydil could not hear Arduo in soul form, she assumed the worst.
"we have to fight don't we…?"
Arduo took a long hard stare at the monsters. Then another peak at the divine priestess. Without warning she began sprinting towards the monsters. Gydil at her side. Both unwavering. She had to save Ansi. Gydil really wanted to face the bastard who took her mother from her.
"I guess we do…"
Clash, as Gydil's short blade struck Ivory. Resonating against the tusks of a monster. Followed by the gnawing and crunching noise of bones as Arduo took control of the body of another monster Gydil had felled. Biting deep into another.