In this world, Magic is Everything. All people, all races, are granted with the power to perform mystical and magical feats via grimories, mystical tomes granted to each and every child on their 15th birthday. Those blessed by the mana can have their names written down in legend.
Shattered Grimoires is the work of the mind(s) of Ardere & Shattered Grimoire's staff. All characters and content are copyright their creators, and may not be replicated without their creators' permission. Black Clover is owned by Yuki Tabata and published by Viz Shonen Jump. All images belong to their original owners. The theme you are currently viewing was made by Eliza of ElizaCodes exclusively for Shattered Grimoires.
"When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back."
From a base located somewhere in the Common Region...
A woman with blonde hair and a white researcher's coat stood upon the second floor with her hands gripping a rail in front of her. She looked below, having a full view of the expansive first floor below her. Dozens of other mages were moving about down there, researching various things, talking among each other and such, The woman looked a little frustrated, her golden eyes squinting as she thought deeply about something. "Miss?" One of the mages had climbed up the steps and approached his superior. "Uh...M-mis-" "I heard you the first time." She spoke up, her tone sounding fierce, and authoritative...but not loud. The mage shut his mouth and nervously took one step back. The woman then turned her head to face him, a sharp gaze freezing the poor mage in place.
"Speak." she commanded coldly...
"Y-yes, miss! I-I just wanted to inform you th-that work on th-the...weapon is progressing smoothly." the guy said. The woman continued to look at the terrified man coldly, not uttering a word. Remaining silent, the woman simply went back to focusing on the first floor and waved her hand at the man to dismissive him. With a bow, the guy quickly scurried back downstairs....not wanting to stick around her any longer.
"Soon...."
"Soon what~?"
Suddenly, a spatial portal opened up next to the woman and a small feminine figure concealed in a black coat hopped out of it. The blonde didn't seem phased and just continued to look down. "Did you find my snake?" The blonde asked in the same tone that shook the previous guy...but the cloaked girl did not seem phased, and was simply bobbing from side to side cheerfully. "Nope! Snakey hasn't been giving off any mana...which is weird because snakey eats mana~." The girl said as she started to twirl around. "What if snakey is dead!?!?" the girl suddenly stopped and placed her hands on her cheeks with a shocked expression. "Whether it lives or not is inconsequential. Its mana will turn up eventually, and when it does I want you to retrieve it." The woman finally stood up and started to walk downstairs. With that, the young girl gave an over-exaggerated salute before fading into one of her portals.
Meanwhile at a town...located somewhere in the Common Region.
Hans made his way through town on his way to the outskirts where Suna's home resides. Due to recent events regarding Kikka, the merc hasn't been spending much time with the sound mage, but he was going to try and make it up to her, by helping with the woman's garden as he promised before. Soon he'd approach the familiar home, and knock on the door, waiting for his partner and a day filled with relaxing gardening....
Or so he thought....
N O T E S
Ready for a totally normal day where nothing will go wrong? cough
S P E L L S
Cool spell descriptions here
WC 490 || TOTAL WC 490
TAGSSuna Hoshi Walker ITEMS Magic Broom, Dark Edge, Cosmic Blessing PERKS List 'em here
Suna did not need to peek through the little hole on her door to sense the familiar dark aura outside. Dropping the notes she had been organizing, she flew over to the front door and flung it open. "Hans!" She exclaimed, attempting to throw her arms around the mercenary. "Thanks so much for coming! I can’t wait to plant the new seeds I got yesterday. Look!" She would then attempt to grab his hand and pull him inside to the dining table, where a decent array of seed packets laid neatly in rows. "I have tomatoes and green beans here, and a few other vegetables and greens. Also, here are some potato eyes that I saved from last night’s dinner. I also have a few flowers here...I haven’t decided what colors, so I got three different types!"
Then she stopped when she realized she was starting to ramble. "Anyways, I doubt we’ll be able to get them all planted today, but if we can get the ground prepped, I’ll be satisfied." She patted his arm. "Ready to get those strong muscles of yours to work?" She laughed, then walked out the door and around to the back of the house. The plot of ground was overgrown with weeds and tall grasses, and the knee-high fence that surrounded the little patch was in desperate need of repairs. "I got two shovels, but I’m going to try pulling out the bigger wild plants first."
Just as the elf stepped into the plot, there was a faint rustle. She froze. A flash of white, and a rabbit dashed out of its hiding spot and into the woods behind her house. "Sorry, rabbit! You can’t play here anymore!" She called out, then realized how dumb that must have sounded, talking to an animal. "Uh, here." She tossed one of the shovels at the mercenary, assuming that he would catch it. "That patch over there doesn’t seem to have any deep roots, so do you want to start digging over there?"
Using a bit of her aura magic, the sound mage wrapped it around her hands like gloves, and stomped over to the plant closest to her. Reaching out, she grabbed onto its main stem and pulled. Nothing. She tried again, pulling it a little harder. It did not work. She gritted her teeth and dug her heels in, then pulled, throwing her weight into it. "Oomph!" She had pulled the plant out all right, roots and all, but the momentum had sent the elf flying backwards, making her land right on her bottom.
"Don’t laugh, Hans..." She was slightly mortified and embarrassed, but also inwardly laughing at herself. "You didn’t see anything!" She warned in mock aggravation, then got up and brushed herself off. She did not turn back to see Hans’ expression, but he surely would have seen everything and must be laughing his head off. Looking at the plant in her hand, she mumbled, "I still won, though."
The day was starting off wonderfully. Now if only she could keep her balance and find a way to pull plants up without looking like a fool after each one...
"When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back."
The door had swung open and out came a rather energetic elf! "Hey Su-" Hans couldn't even finish speaking over Suna's excitement. She then embraced the man, wrapping her arms around him. Hans hesitated a bit, but he ended up doing the same, having missed this warmth.
The moment they let go of each other, Hans just stood there blinking a few times as Suna started going on and on about planting until he was suddenly pulled into her home without little warning! The merc knew that she was looking forward to this....but didn't think she'd be this hyper! Brought into the familiar dining area, Hans crossed his arms and quietly watched as his woman showed off her variety of seeds. His dark eyes eventually focused on Suna while she continued. Hans hasn't seen Suna for a bit ever since that failed attempt at trying to save Kikka, so he just...looked at the woman, taking in all that he missed. Her voice, her joy over the little things, her beauty...everything.
Seems that the sound mage caught on to her rambling, and Hans was a bit disappointed. He wouldn't have minded hearing her continue. The merc then realized that he was staring, and started to rub the back of his neck. "Uh...Yeah." Hans nodded before quickly turning his head to face the seeds. "Gardening takes time...unless you're a plant mage." Hans added with a little quip at the end. Hans felt the gentle pats on Hans' arm, making the dark mage smirk lightly as he glanced back at her. "Lead the way." he said with a nod before gesturing his head towards the door. Hans followed Suna out the door, and he continued to admire her for a bit while doing so as if this were his first time seeing her again...Of course, his eyes ended up wandering a little too...low in the process.
Now at the back of the house, Hans' attention went to the garden which was....in dire need of some help. The merc managed to keep a straight face to not risk upsetting Suna, but the guy knew full well that if it was his mother here instead, she'd be fuming over this....
With another nod, the merc followed Suna to the plot, intending to help with pulling the weeds out, but then the couple heard rustling. Almost instinctively, Hans had a hand on his sheathed katana with his eyes narrowing. Was it an intruder!? A bandit!? Or maybe...a daemon?
It was but a single rabbit that had quickly scurried off. After witnessing this, Hans let go of the hilt and placed a hand gently on the side of his face, digging his fingers a bit into his black hair as he slowly shook his head with eyes closed. 'This isn't Kikka...' Hans thought to himself. That day...it was still fresh in his mind, and it has him a bit on edge. He didn't even notice the...interesting "conversation" Suna had with that rabbit which was probably good for her. Fortunately, he heard Suna just in time to catch the shovel she tossed, but he was still a bit out of it. "Thanks." is all he would say before heading to the other patch.
Hans started digging, slowly getting his mind off of Kikka and onto cleaning up this area. From the corner of his eye, the merc finally noticed that Suna was struggling with getting those plants out. Hans dug the shovel into the dirt and left it there before focusing on the sound mage. "You need me to get tha-" Before he could finish, Suna was finally able to get that pesky weed out....but fell right on her butt in the process! Right as she told him not to laugh, Hans exhaled out of his nose in an attempt to keep a small chuckle in, but he couldn't help but crack a small smile. He may have missed the rabbit thing...but certainly not this. "I saw plenty." the man smirked lightly as he went over to help his lady up. Hans wasn't able to hear Suna's little mumble, but the way she was acting was still able to make him smile a little more.
Oh, how he missed her....
Unfortunately, peaceful moments such as this.... never last for long....
Within the elf's house, something had started to stir...
A familiar-looking snake piece had started to squirm a bit and started to glow in wherever it was placed, a green aura now surrounding it. "Snakey~?" A spatial portal opened up in front of it, and the hooded girl stepped out of it...with a box of cookies in hand. The girl dug her hand into the box and threw some more of those treats into her mouth, and started chewing as she looked around. Her eyes then set upon the wiggling piece, making the girl gasp, and drop her cookies in the process. "Snakey! I thought I'd never see ya again!!!" the girl squealed before grabbing the piece and hugging it close to her, caressing the piece against her cheek. "You look a little different though....Where's your head~?" the girl said, pouting a little as she started to look around again.
"W-woaaaahhh!" The girl took notice of the tree growing in this room and skipped over to it, looking up to it in awe with mouth wide open. "Look snakey! What's a tree doing in this room? Silly tree~" The girl giggled before her attention turned elsewhere. "Ohhhh and there's books here too!" The girl ran over and placed the snake piece on the ground beside her. Getting on her knees, the girl started to pull books out of the shelf. "Hmmm, junk~" she examined one of the titles and threw it to the ground, then she did the same for another book then another...and another, calling them all junk as she tossed them to the ground until...."Ohhhhh!" She lifted up a particular book titled, "Splintered...Hearts?" The girl grinned innocently before laying on her stomach and kicking her feet up. She opened the book to a random page and her eyes started to trace through the words as she quietly mouthed to herself.
"Huh?" She then paused and tilted her head to the side a little. "That's a weird place to stick your tongue...Guys are gross."
Back outside, Hans would pause, and look up at the house. Finally picking up on the mana signature, the merc squinted his eyes, and looked over to Suna, assuming she sensed it as well. If she'd allow him to, Hans would slowly make his way to the entrance, and step in with his hand once again on the hilt of his blade. The rabbit was a false alarm...but this mana signature...it's much stronger than some animals. Hans cautiously followed where the signature was coming from, sliding the katana from its sheath in the process. Now by the little library area, Hans would look over to Suna if she is with him, and give a slight nod before rushing into the room with sword drawn!
Hans looked around at the now messy looking room until his eyes fell upon a giggling girl laying on the ground while still reading that book. "A...girl?" Hans was expecting something more...threatening looking, but there's no doubt that's where the strong mana is coming from so he kept his guard up. "Oh?" The girl turned around and noticed the dark mage, and assuming the sound mage as well. "Eek! What are you doing in my house!?" The girl immediately stood up and dropped the book, now hugging the snake piece close to her chest. The merc rose an eyebrow before looking back at Suna again. "This is...her house." Hans said, gesturing at the elf. "Oh." The hooded girl loosened up a bit and looked around with her lips pursed. "Well I'm sorry to say, miss, but your house is in desperate need of a lady's touch!" the girl claimed, referring to the mess....that she made herself. "Which is weird because you're a lady, no offense~"
As the girl spoke, Hans' eyes focused on the familiar looking snake piece she was holding. "Why do you have that?" Hans asked. This only made the girl hold onto the piece tighter. "It's my snakey! Well...it's my big "sis'" snakey...which by extension means it's mine!" It was obvious that this girl isn't exactly...sane. "Wait, are you the guys who rescued my snakey?" She then ran up to them and started bouncing up and down. "Oh thank you thank you!!! Do ya want to meet my "sis"? I betcha she's gonna be more than happy to see ya as well, especially since you both have pretty strong mana, and she looovvveess people with strong mana!"
Without warning, the girl's mana flared up then three spatial portals opened up, one under her, another under Hans, and one more under Suna. If they weren't quick enough, the portals would drop them right through and fade....
The two portals Hans and possibly Suna fell through would lead into a dungeon-like area filled with various cells with mana walls in front of them to keep people from getting out. Those within the cells aren't able to sense mana due to some sort of mana interference, but can still speak, and hear others. The couple was sent into two separate cells, but they aren't the only captives in this area. There were various people and creatures occupying these many cells, two of them containing a familiar-looking boar, and boar hybrid....while another held a familiar witch...with red hair.
"Gardening takes time...unless you're a plant mage."
"And that’s why you’re here." Suna quipped, then went in for another tight hug. "I’ve missed you." She said softly. But just as quickly, the sentimental moment was past and she was back to her regular self. She had bounded outside and they were soon at work. Besides the little rabbit that had startled her, everything else went by smoothly. Well, also excluding her little embarrassing moment.
"I saw plenty."
"Hey!" She pouted, but the damage was done. There was no way she could turn back time, not unless she was a mage who could manipulate time. Was there even such magic? That would be too powerful. But regardless, she accepted the hand to get back up to her feet.
Thankfully, the weeds seemed to be behaving more now...or perhaps she found the right amount of power to pull them out. Regardless, she was slowly clearing out her area, and it was already looking much better without all the overgrown plants messily sprawled out all over the place. Before long, there was a good area cleared. She was about to say something when she felt something...strange.
"What?" Her eyebrows furrowed, confused. The unfamiliar mana signature was coming from...inside her house. Hans had immediately started to move towards the front door, hand on his hilt. The elf also followed cautiously, though at a safe distance. She reached out with her sensory. Yes, definitely unfamiliar. Powerful, too. What in the world could it be?
Her heart was hammering, both in concern and excitement. She would have summoned Cadenza, but her grimoire was unfortunately inside the house, on the table. She did not think she would need to use her spells while she was at home, but guessed she was wrong. Hans had nodded at her, and as he rushed in with sword drawn, she also followed suit, though without a weapon. As soon as she was close enough, she had darted in to grab her grimoire. Then her eyes fell upon the intruder.
A girl? Reading on the ground? And why were all of her books thrown about in a mess on the floor?
"Eek! What are you doing in my house!?"
"What are you doing in my house?" Suna said, the same time when the mercenary stated that it was her house. The elf was practically bristling, and her mana glowed all around her. She did not take kindly to those who barged in her space without permission, much less messed up her library of books and desecrated them in such careless fashion. To have her sacred space being disturbed like this...Suna was not very happy, to put it mildly.
The girl had a hood on her, so the sound mage could not really see her face. Then there was that strong mana signature rolling off from her. From one that looked so young, that was not right. Her aura also felt off, but Suna could not exactly pinpoint why. All she knew was that this girl was out of the ordinary...and possibly dangerous. But before she could say anything else, Hans pointed out that the girl was holding the piece of snake skin, the same one she had saved from their little adventure before. The hooded girl claimed that it was her ‘snakey’, but that her sister owned it. Stranger and stranger.
"No, we don’t want to mee—" She started, but never finished as spatial portals opened up underneath their feet and they dropped right through...
...right into a cell.
Suna landed solidly on her feet, with her knees bent. She used to be a forest elf, after all, and had her share of falling from heights. Instinct had kicked in, and she had landed without too much fuss. Physically, she was fine, but mentally?
The blue-haired mage whipped her head around frantically, dazed but also alarmed at the same time. What was going on? The first thing she looked for was Hans, and saw him in another cell. "Hans!" They were apart, but he looked unharmed. Thank goodness. Then her eyes caught sight of a familiar shock of red hair. "V-Vera?" Blue eyes widened in disbelief. "W-Wait. Didn’t you...didn’t we..." Words failed her, and she continued to stay speechless when she saw the boar and boar hybrid man-creature, whatever it was.
A hundred questions whirled around in her head. What was going on? What is this place? Why were they here? Why were they being kept in this...prison? She pressed her hand against the mana walls and immediately recoiled. The power keeping those walls up were strong, and it had a strong zipping sensation when her hand came in contact with it. It felt almost akin to being zapped by lightning magic. Suna bit down on her bottom lip. Seeing how many prisoners are kept in this place made her very apprehensive. The girl had said before that her older sister, whoever it was, liked people with strong mana. Vera was definitely strong, and so was that boar pair. The snake, too, was strong in its strange anti-magical properties. But for what?
Suna shivered, but not from the cold. Her mind was slowly coming in terms to their situation, and it was not pleasant. She doubted that they were held here just for display. This looked like a place where they kept various strong specimens for their unknown purposes. The first thing she thought of was some type of power leeching. But looking at the hybrid boar, it could be something else. Something like...experiments?
"When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back."
Unfortunately for Hans, his fall wasn't as graceful....
The merc fell on his back with his katana landing blade first ever so close to his face, enough to make even him flinch. With a small groan, the merc quickly opened his eyes and sat up! "Suna!?" was the first thing to come to Hans' mind and mouth. He then heard the woman yell his name and quickly turned his head in the direction of where the voice came from. The dark mage saw his lady...within some cell. "Suna!" Hans yelled again before instinctively grabbing hold of some bars, and was instantly electrocuted by them, making him quickly retract his hands in pain.
Hans furrowed his brows and looked down at his palms before looking at the bars. It then clicked in his head, that he was in his own cell as well...and that they weren't alone. Hans slowly stood up and walked forward, his eyes looking over dozens of other cells within rows...with some holding others within. People, and animals of various ages, races, as well as species. Expressions of fear, sadness, crying, and despair were all on their faces. Just then Hans heard his lady utter a familiar name and he once again looked over. "Wait...Vera?" Was that seductress somehow behind...whatever this was?
She wasn't....
Hans looked to where Suna was looking and saw that witch....looked up as well. She just sat there, with her faces against her knees, and arms around her legs. The moment she heard her name called twice, however, she peeked up at Suna, her face mostly covered by that red hair of hers. Vera did not utter a word. There were no signs of anger, malice, hatred. She only appeared...blank. Then she slowly turned around to face away from the elf with her back now towards her. Before the merc could open his mouth, he heard a pig-like grunt coming from another cell, and to his surprise saw that hybrid boar human the couple encountered in the forest, as well as that "regular" boar which was in a cell next to it. Just where in the hell were they!?
Now, multiple footsteps could be heard echoing down the path between both rows of cells. Hearing this, many of the prisoners started to panic, or quickly look away. Hans noticed their reactions before turning his attention to the footsteps. He tried to read the mana of them...but the room was interfering with his sensory. Two burly looking guards were starting to come into view, along with a familiar little girl who was skipping gleefully...but behind her was a woman roughly around the same height as Hans and Suna, with blonde hair and wearing some sort of researcher's coat. As she got closer to where Suna and Hans were, the merc was able to make out that woman's appearance...and his eyes widened some in surprise.
"You're...."
Suddenly, flashbacks of a certain day back in Hage had started to manifest in Hans' mind. When Hans teamed up with that self-proclaimed vigilante, Bryn and did battle against a lesser demon, and her servant in order to rescue some missing children.
This...was that servant....Ada.
Ada gave the dark mage a knowing look, but it was brief. She then turned her attention to Suna with an eyebrow raised. "What have I told you about bringing me more elves, Dorothea? I have plenty of those already...." Ada claimed before walking closer to the sound mage's cell. "But, but she saved snakey! I wanted you to meet her!" the girl bounced up and down. "Dispose of it." Ada ordered, referring to the blue-haired elf. The guards stepped forward with their mana flaring. "Don't touch her!" Hans yelled out, again grabbing on the bars but received another shock. He quickly retracted his hands and then picked up his sword, slamming the blade against the bars over and over...but it was pointless, even with the use of his dark magic, creating an aura over him.
As the guards continued to get closer, Ada rose an eyebrow then one of her hands. "Hold on." Ada commanded calmly, the guards stopping without a second thought. Ada sensed a bit of Suna's mana, and something about it...intrigued her. "Interesting. Your mana..." Ada walked past the guards and was now standing in front of the sound mage's cell. "You're not just an elf, are you?" A question that didn't really need to be answered, at least for Ada. "Another witch who has strayed from the forest..." She claimed, before glancing over at Vera...but that wasn't the only witch she was referring to....
The woman leaned in a little more, face mere inches from the bars. The woman rose one of her hands up...and a snake made of ink magic slithered from her sleeve, slipping through the bars where it then morphed into a hand which would attempt to grab a hold of Suna's chin, moving her head left and right so Ada could examine her a little....followed with an ominous little chuckle.
"I'm going to enjoy dissecting you...--sister.--" The woman said in a low tone with the last word being uttered...in witch's tongue.
The ink hand formed back into a snake and lingered eerily around Suna's face for a few seconds, its equally black tongue slipping out a few times before slowly retracting back into Ada's sleeve. "But that will have to wait....I have other matters to attend to." With that, Ada backed away with a satisfied smirk and started to walk off with her guards, and Dorothea trailing behind. "Did I do good then, sis? Can I get more cookies~!?" is the last thing to be heard before they all slipped out of sight, returning back to the floor above....
The one in question slowly lifted her head, letting her crimson hair fall back and exposing her face. Suna stared in shock at the other witch, wincing a little at the state of that familiar yet unfamiliar face. Yes, she was the one who messed it up, and she now beheld the damage she had inflicted. There was a nasty patch on her left cheek, and she could see that the nose was also slightly misshapen. Was it not healable? Suna did not think that her exploding ring back then had done that much damage besides just stunning the woman, but apparently it was more powerful than she had thought.
But, her eyes...why did they look so empty? There was no emotion there, no feeling. Where was the wrathful seductress? What had happened to her? What could reduce her into this shell of a being? The woman did not respond to her name being called, only blinked at her and buried her head back into her knees. Suna took in a breath. Calm down. She was slowly realizing how dire a situation they were in right now, but freaking out was not going to help matters any. One step at a time. First, they needed to find a way to get out of these cells.
The elf looked around carefully. The cells lined up throughout the room, and she looked over to where her mercenary was. "Hans!" She whisper-hissed. "Are you okay?" He seemed safe for the most part, though he had tried grabbing onto those bars. She heard the buzz and saw the look of pain cross his face...but she had to try it for herself as well. Gingerly, she used a finger to touch the glowing cell bars.
Zzzzz! It zapped her finger, and she withdrew it, biting down on her lower lip. She had only used a finger, but the sizzling feeling went throughout her whole body. If she was to try throwing her entire body against it, that would be even more painful. How can they get out of this?
The looks on the other caged up people were not encouraging. Most looked empty, just like Vera’s. Others still held on to some degree of emotion, such as fear or despair or sadness. At least they still looked somewhat human, even though some of those in the other cells were definitely not humans. At least, she did not think they were.
She heard a somewhat familiar animalistic grunt and whipped her head to see... Her blue eyes widened. That strange boar man and his ‘pet’ boar! Why were they also held up like this? What were they doing here? More importantly, who was running this whole thing? The answer came just as soon as she wondered about it.
Footsteps.
Instinctively, she tensed up, but stayed put standing up and straining around the bars to see who was coming. She had noted that the other caged individuals had looked away quickly, or shrank back further into their cells. Whoever was coming must be terrifying. She reached out with her senses, but something interfered with her mana reading. It was probably these cells.
Two tall and well-built guards came into view. Right behind them was the little girl whom they had met earlier in Suna’s house, and the one who had caused the mess. Just thinking about that made the blue-haired elf bristle, but now was not the time to be concerned about that. There was another figure that came into the room, behind the two men and the prattling girl. She was not that tall, but her presence was imposing and cold. Her blond hair was perfectly styled, as if she controlled every single strand of hair to bend to her will. She also had on a white coat, something like what scientists and researchers might wear. That gave Suna some clue as to what this was all about, but who was she?
"You're...."
That was coming from Hans, and Suna nearly burst out with a "How do you know her?" But she did not. Almost, but she caught herself. Instead, she bit down harder on her bottom lip and kept her mouth shut. Whatever this was all about, she can ask that part later.
"What have I told you about bringing me more elves, Dorothea? I have plenty of those already...."
Plenty of elves? What were they doing, collecting elves? Was this really an experimental lab of sorts?
"But, but, she saved snakey! I wanted you to meet her!"
That was the little girl, apparently named Dorothea. She was as hyper as she first saw her, dancing on her toes like a little child. However, Suna did not doubt that she was not entirely as innocent as she looked.
But then the blond woman gave an order to dispose of her, and Suna shrank back, cowering under the sudden burst of mana from the guards. She could hear Hans shouting for them not to touch her, and heard the woosh of his sword...and also the zaps from the mana bars. She did not need to look to know that he must be fuming with his dark aura, and she trembled. If they were going to get rid of her right there and then, then there was no chance for escape. But if they were going to lead her out to kill her...there might be an opening there.
"Hold on."
The guards stopped, but so did Suna’s heart. She could scarcely breath underneath that cool yet heavy scrutiny. The woman was stepping closer, as if trying to read her mana. The elf stared back, fearful yet also unable to look away. Then she was asked a question, but she did not answer. Not when the woman seemed to get the answer already.
"Another witch who has strayed from the forest..."
Another...witch? Was she also a witch? Suna held her breath. If only she could read the strange woman’s mana signature, but alas, she could not. All she could do was look at her captor...until the latter released some sort of snake from her sleeve. It slipped through the cage bars, then morphed into a hand that suddenly grabbed onto her chin. Suna tried to back away and get out of its hold, but it held her fast.
A low chuckle. It sent shivers up and down her spine. The inky hand that came from a snake was tilting her left and right, and Suna glared at the intrusive and possessive act. Who was she, and what did she plan on doing with her?
"I'm going to enjoy dissecting you...--sister.--"
Sister? The witches’ tongue. She was definitely a witch all right. But dissecting? She would have burst out in a question right there and then, but her tongue felt like lead. It did not want to obey her. Suna could only watch dumbly as the hand let her go and turned back into a snake, before slithering back to its master.
"But that will have to wait....I have other matters to attend to."
So for now, she was not going to die. For now. Suna blinked rapidly, trying to still and calm her furious heartbeat. The blond female had only smirked at her, then turned and walked away from the room, with Dorothea and the two guards following her.
As soon as the four people were out of sight, it seemed like the whole room breathed a sigh of relief. They would all live...for now. But first, Suna needed answers. She turned to the dark mage. "Who is she?" Then she frowned and shook her head. That was not the right question to be asking now. "Do you have an idea of how we can get out of here?"
The elf paced around her cell, looking at every corner and nook and cranny. They were well sealed in on all four sides, and there was that continuous stream of energy or mana that fueled these cells. They must be powered by something, and it must be close by. But they needed to get out first, so how?
Then a thought struck her.
How did they fall in here? The sound mage immediately snapped her head up to look at the top of her cell. There was none, only the ceiling up higher above them.
"When you spend so long trapped in darkness, you find that the darkness begins to stare back."
"You two, stand guard." Ada commanded the two guards which they bowed to her quietly before taking their positions in front of the entrance to the holding cells.
The blonde witch then walked off with the little girl skipping joyfully behind her. Ada appeared to be in deep thought, her slender fingers resting under her chin while Dorothea looked up at the woman curiously. As they walked through the main area where dozens of different magical experiments were being done, the other researchers would instinctively turn and bow at Ada as she passed them, but the woman hadn't noticed. This was nothing new to her anyway with the position she holds. They all rightfully fear her....All except for one.
"Whatcha thinkin about~?" The little girl once again opened her mouth, but Ada ignored her. Dorothea then puffed her cheeks in annoyance and started tugging at Ada's lab coat. "Sis! Helloooo! What. Are. You. Thinking. Aboouuuttt~?" The girl continued to pester her, but once she finally got the witch's attention, all she did was casually look down at the girl. "Here." Ada stopped walking and pulled a box of cookies out of her coat, tossing it to Dorothea who caught it, her eyes sparkling in childish joy. "Eeeeee, thank youuuuu~!" Dorothea exclaimed before sitting herself right there in the middle of the floor and opening the box. Ada simply continued onward before heading into another room....where her main project was being done.
Opening the mana powered door with her magic, Ada would be first greeted by one of her subordinates, the one in charge of overseeing this project. "Pr-professor Ada!" the man bowed immediately as Ada dropped her fingers from her chin, giving the man a cold stare. "How is the sword?" she asked before looking over to where the experiment was being held. "I-It's going along smoothly, miss! C-Come!" He gestured for the witch to follow to which she did. They would soon approach about five other researchers who appeared to be running various tests on a rusted greatsword, causing it to shift from various elements.
"The "Summoner's" Sword is functioning appropriately to these tests, and is reacting to the magical elements we have...."borrowed" from your previous "patients" with no issues. If this keeps up, it will be ready in time for your meeting with that client later." the researcher claimed. "Good...because if my client isn't pleased with this..." An intimidating aura would start to flow around the woman as she turned to face the scientist...illusions of ink formed snakes now slithering around the both of them. "Then I will have to....repurpose you." Not only the man but the other researchers were intimidated by the woman's presence, cold sweats running down their faces. "I-I...I..." The man was now backed against a wall before even realizing it. Ada would then back away, her cold and calculating expression forming back into a soft-looking smile. "But I trust that you won't fail me." With that, Ada left, heading back to her office....
Back in the holding cells....
"Suna, did they hurt yo-"
"Who is she?"
Hans was almost taken off guard by that question, but fortunately, the elf did not linger on that for long and asked another question. At this point, the merc wasn't even sure who that woman was anymore. He could've swore that she was some cult follower...but now it looked like that she's some kind of researcher instead, including a big shift in her personality, coming off as less obedient...and more dominant. Was that the same woman? The way she looked at Hans made it seem so. If only he could've sensed her mana....
Hans started to look around for a way out until his attention went upwards like Suna's. There was nothing covering the top of the cell, but it was still too high. How were they going to get out of this....?
Fortunately for the couple...they weren't going to have to do a thing....
Back on the upper floor, Dorothea was still sitting in the middle of that room, joyfully munching on her cookies without a care in the world. She was humming a sweet tune and was just about to dig her hand into the box again...until someone walked by and accidentally kicked it over, causing the remaining cookies to spill all over the dirty ground! "M-My...." The girl was in a bit of disbelief at first. "My..co..coo-" The girl stood back on her feet, teary eyes staring down at the cookies as her body shook in sadness....and anger...
"My COOOOKKIIIEEESSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!"
An aura of mana was now forming around Dorothea as the entire area rumbled around her! Nearby researchers stopped what they were doing and all looked in the girl's direction, completely confused and terrified at what was happening.
"What is the meaning of thi-" Ada stormed out of her office from the third floor and looked down at the middle floor. Her eyes immediately set on Dorothea, making the stoic head researcher bite her tongue. "Oh...no..." she whispered...
Around the base, spatial portals started to open all around...and so did void rifts. Some objects were being teleported while others were shredded into nothingness. Everything started to fall apart and people were running about, panicking for their lives! Some people ended up falling into spatial portals to who knows where, while the unlucky ones found themselves getting their limbs, upper bodies...or their entire selves getting erased by the rifts. It was complete and utter chaos...but this floor wasn't the only one experiencing this....
With the rumbling going on at the floor of the Holding cell, Hans looked around while gripping his katana. "What's...happening...?" the merc could barely stay on his feet from this amount of shaking. Was it an earthquake? No...It was much worse. The portals and void rifts started to appear on this floor too, shredding apart cells, teleporting some of them away, destroying structures! A random portal opened up underneath Vera and she fell straight through, while a similar thing happened to the two boars! A void rift ate away at the floor in front of Hans' cell, while another completely erased half of Suna's cell, making the dark mage panic. "Suna...Suna!" The merc tried grabbing the bars again, but the shocks were too much to deal with! A spatial portal would then open up under Hans' feet and as he fell through. "Sunaaaaaa!" her name echoed as he fell through the portal...and then another would form underneath the sound mage. Assuming that she fell through, the both of them would be gone, just in time as the remainder of the building collapsed!
Was this the end of the mage couple!?
Not likely....
Back at Suna's house, two portals would open up in the book area, dropping the both of them back in that room before disappearing. The portals appeared to have just led to the areas where they were last at, fortunately...for the most part at least. Hans slowly sat up and rubbed his head, feeling a bit disoriented. As his eyes started to focus, Hans' attention immediately went to Suna assuming she was there. "S-Suna? Are you okay...?" He crawled to her with a confirmed look written all over him. One more portal then opened, and out of it...dropped a rusty looking greatsword along with some research papers, some intact while others were in pieces. "A...sword?" Hans slowly walked over to the greatsword and lifted it up...and the moment he touched it...a dark aura surrounded the blade before transforming it, adopting the merc's element.
Hans blinked a few times before looking confusingly over at his lady....
Who knew that gardening would lead to such an...odd day?
She had unwittingly cut him off with her question, though her features did soften at his concern. "I’m fine, don’t worry." She reassured him, though her eyes still darted all around her surroundings. Then she had looked up, and saw a way out. However, the walls were way too tall, and her already short height did not help matters any. So, what could she do? What could they do?
Then the ground started to rumble.
"W-What’s going on?" Her voice was controlled, but her eyes were wide with surprise and adrenaline. An earthquake? Was this their chance to escape? "Hans!" She cried out. He was always at the forefront of her mind. Immediately she ran up to the prison bars and started pushing and banging on it, not really feeling the electrifying shocks of mana that coursed through her arms and her body.
Screams all around, and not just from their floor. The walls around them were starting to crumble, and void rifts started forming. One by one, she beheld portals appearing underneath each of the prisoners, falling into who knows where. The cages were falling apart as well. This was their chance to escape! "Hans! Escape when you can!" She cried out, but she did not know if he could hear her amidst all the chaos that was going on.
Then she saw a void rift forming from one side of her cell, and she pressed her back against the other side, trying to get as much distance as she could between that growing space and herself. She heard the dark mage call out her name, but before she could answer, a portal opened underneath her. "Hans!!"
She felt herself falling…and falling…
Was this the end?
"Ooomph!" This time, her fall was not as graceful, and the elf landed in a tangled heap on...hardwood floor? Groaning a little, she looked up to see that she was back in her house. "W-We’re...back?" She was so confused. Was it just a dream? She heard her man’s voice, and immediately crawled over to him as well before throwing her arms around him. He was here, and he felt real under her touch. No, it was not a nightmare. Or at least, she did not think so.
Clink!
Suna flinched at the sound, immediately tense. But then she relaxed when she saw that it was just a rusty-looking sword, and some fluttering pieces of paper. She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. No more strange snakes or scary scientists or strangers barging into her house...hopefully.
While Hans reached for the sword, she reached for the papers. Maybe...maybe there was something on here that could help them figure out what had just happened, and what that place was. Sure, she was shaken, but now that she was back in her own house and seeing that both she and Hans were safe, her nerves had definitely calmed down.
Then she felt the aura shift behind her, and she whirled around to see the mercenary’s dark magic seemingly infused into it. "Hmm, interesting. I wonder why it got transported here with us..." Ideas were whirling in her mind, but there was time for that later.
"Looks like you have yourself a new sword. But what...what was that all about?" She asked aloud instead, referring to the whole event, though it was more of a rhetorical question. Then Suna gathered all the stray pieces of paper together and stacked them neatly onto a nearby table. "I’ll look at these later. Maybe they’ll hold some sort of information as to what that was all about..."
But first, she was going to organize those books that strange little girl had so rudely tossed out.
